British Petroleum ready to invest in Iranian oil fields
British Petroleum has expressed readiness to invest in development of certain Iranian oil fields, Rokneddin Javadi, Iran's deputy oil minister said.
Talks with the British company are underway for cooperation in oil fields' development, boosting recovery rate at old fields, and research projects, Javadi said.
The two parties are also negotiating to resume Iran's crude oil sale to the company, Javadi, who heads the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said, adding no agreement has been reached on the issue yet.
BP also has expressed readiness to reopen its office in Iran, Javadi said, forecasting that the British firm's office will resume its activities in Tehran in summer.
BP and NIOC jointly share the Rhum gas field in the North Sea with an equal share distribution of 50 percent.
Operations were suspended at the field in November 2010 after the EU introduced sanctions against Iran.
According to the estimates provided by BP, the Rhum field contains 800 billion cubic feet of gas and accounts for about 4 percent of the UK's annual gas production.
Since the sanctions were lifted in January, Iran has increased the crude oil export to 2.2 million barrels per day aiming to redeem its previous place in the world market.
Iran's oil output also reached 3.5 million barrels per day in April, according to the OPEC.
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