India and Iran have moved closer on Farzad-B gas field deal. Both nations continued their high level engagement on the gas field in Tehran yesterday.
Joint Secretary for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Sunjay Sudhir met Iranian Deputy Minister of Petroleum Dr Amir-Hossein Zamaninia to discuss bilateral cooperation in the field of oil and gas including ongoing negotiations of Farzad-B gas fields.
Mr Sudhir was accompanied by Ambassador Saurabh Kumar and Sudhir Sharma, Director Business Development of ONGC Videsh for the discussions. The talks on Farzad-B received a major boost during the Iran visit of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in April this year. Mr Pradhan met the Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.
During the discussions today, the two sides took stock of the progress since the April ministerial meetings and expressed satisfaction at the ongoing negotiations. Discussions progressed on the Heads of Agreement which will eventually lead to a definitive agreement.
ONGC Videsh is preparing a Master Development Plan for the gas field while also working on a gas pricing formula keeping in view of the global gas price scenario. The two sides agreed to make their best endeavours to conclude the definitive agreement by February next year.
Both sides also agreed to explore possibilities for expanding the footprint of Indian companies through their participation in production and development fields.