Iran weighing Inpex oil role

October 8, 2006 Filed Under: Mining Stocks, Oil and Gas  

The oil minister of Iran confirmed Sunday that Inpex Holdings had cut its stake in the Azadegan project to 10 percent from 75 percent after first saying Japan’s biggest oil explorer might be able to keep control of the field.

“The share of Inpex in the Azadegan contract has been decreased from 75 percent to 10 percent, and the execution of the project has been given to Naftiran Intertrade Co.,” Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh told the Mehr News agency.

Naftiran, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a subsidiary of the state-owned National Iranian Oil, holds the remaining 25 percent share in the $2.5 billion project.

Azadegan is Iran’s biggest oil discovery in more than three decades.

The production target for the field is 260,000 barrels of oil a day by 2012, or 6.7 percent of Iran’s current oil output.

The Japanese company, which won the develop rights in February 2004, has blamed rising project costs and said it can’t start work until Iran removes land mines laid during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq. Iran repeatedly threatened to remove Inpex from the project this year because of a lack of progress at the field.

TEHRAN The oil minister of Iran confirmed Sunday that Inpex Holdings had cut its stake in the Azadegan project to 10 percent from 75 percent after first saying Japan’s biggest oil explorer might be able to keep control of the field.

“The share of Inpex in the Azadegan contract has been decreased from 75 percent to 10 percent, and the execution of the project has been given to Naftiran Intertrade Co.,” Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh told the Mehr News agency.

Naftiran, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a subsidiary of the state-owned National Iranian Oil, holds the remaining 25 percent share in the $2.5 billion project.

Azadegan is Iran’s biggest oil discovery in more than three decades.

The production target for the field is 260,000 barrels of oil a day by 2012, or 6.7 percent of Iran’s current oil output.

The Japanese company, which won the develop rights in February 2004, has blamed rising project costs and said it can’t start work until Iran removes land mines laid during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq. Iran repeatedly threatened to remove Inpex from the project this year because of a lack of progress at the field.