NIOC and Gazprom agree for development of three major gas assets

Iranian state-owned NIOC has signed an agreement with Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom covering co-operation on the development of three major gas assets.

As part of the deal, the firms will work together on the 55 trillion ft³ (1.6 trillion m³) Kish and the 57.1 trillion ft³ North Pars fields, and to boost pressure levels at the supergiant South Pars field, all in the Mideast Gulf.

The companies estimated the investment required for the former two projects at around $10bn, and for South Pars at $15bn.

Khojasteh-Mehr said these projects are envisaged to produce upwards of 100mn m³/d of gas combined, around 14pc of Iran’s current output.

At South Pars, one of Iran’s key upstream assets, Gazprom will build compression facilities that Tehran views as critical to the field’s future but to which it does not having access.

Beyond the upstream, NIOC said Gazprom would work with Iran to help complete an unfinished LNG export project.