Press Trust of India, New Delhi, April 21: With easing of Western sanctions against Iran in sight, India has made a renewed pitch to get rights to develop ONGC-discovered Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf.
A high-level delegation comprising officials from the ministries of finance and petroleum as well as executives from ONGC Videsh and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) visited Tehran last week to re-engage with Iran.
The talks centered on getting development rights to the Farzad-B gas field in the Farsi block as well as on the possibilities of setting up gas-based petrochemical/urea plant in Iran, sources privy to the development said.
Iran had earlier this month reached a framework nuclear agreement with the six world powers, spurring hopes of a final deal by June end that could lead to the lifting of economic sanctions.
Indian firms have so far shied away from investing in Iran for the fear of being sanctioned by the US and Europe.
Sources said that besides getting rights of the Farzad-B field, discussions focused on putting up petrochemical projects especially in Asalouyeh Special Economic Zone and Iran’s southeastern port city of Chabahar.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, had in 2008 discovered the Farzad-B gas field in its Farsi exploration block in the Persian Gulf.
In August/September, 2010, it submitted a revised Master Development Plan (MDP) for producing 60 per cent of the 21.68 trillion cubic feet of in-place gas reserves but had not signed the contract because of threat of being sanctioned by the US, which is against any company investing more than USD 20 million in Iran’s energy sector in any 12-month period.