Iran to invest $ 1.7 bn in Azeri gas field
A top Iranian oil official says Tehran plans to invest $ 1.7 bn to develop the second phase of Azerbaijan's
Shah-Deniz gas field.
"Iran has voiced interest in having at least 10 % of the stakes in a project to develop the second phase of
Shah-Deniz," said Hossein Noqrekar-Shirazi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs. "Iran has provided
Azeri officials a $ 1.7 bn proposal for the development of a part of the second phase of the Shah-Deniz field," he
added.
The National Iranian Oil Company currently holds a 10 % share in the first phase of the Azeri field, which is due to
become operational between 2012 and 2013.
The two sides have so far held several rounds of talks in a bid to increase Iran's future gas imports from
Shah-Deniz, which is Azerbaijan's largest gas field.
Located to the south of the Caspian Sea, Shah-Deniz produces nearly 1 mm cm of gas per day and has reserves of 1.2
tcm.
Oil giant BP and Norway's Statoil are the major shareholders in Shah-Deniz. TheState Oil Company of Azerbaijan
(SOCAR), Russia's LUKoil, France's Total, the NIOC and Turkey's National Oil and Gas Company each hold a 10 % stake
in the field.
