Iran talking with several parties on Caspian exploration

July 16, 1998 British Petroleum said it was in talks with Iran over studying exploration prospects in the oil-rich Caspian Sea.
"We are in discussions with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to assess prospectivity of the southern Caspian," a BP spokesman said.
BP, Shell and Lasmo are said to be invited to form a consortium to carry out a "major exploration study" with an NIOC affiliate in Iran's Caspian Sea sector.
BP said a study would take around two years. But the company denied that any group approach had been formalised.
A spokesman for Lasmo, which has made no secret of its eagerness to get into Iran, said it was "talking to and working with BP and Shell and looking closely at Iran's part of the Caspian."
Shell was not available for comment.

Earlier this year BP reopened an office in Tehran, enhancing its position for more than 40 oil development projects recently offered by Iran.
It had been forced to put projects on the back burner by the threat of U.S. sanctions against foreign firms investing in Iran.
Iran has said it is reserving Caspian exploration prospects for a separate international tender. A dozen, mostly European firms reportedly bid for the exploration study work earlier this summer.
Tehran has previously opposed division of Caspian resources on a sector basis, arguing that they should be shared equally between coastal states.