London backs cooperation with Iran: UK envoy in Tehran

Signing an agreement to develop Karanj oilfield in Dezful, Khuzestan, southwestern Iran, took place at the best time, and the UK supports the commercial agreement, said the ambassador of Britain to Iran, AVA Diplomatic reports.

The agreement is manifestation of Britain’s commercial commitment to its presence in Iran, and London supports that, said Robert Macaire on Wednesday in the deal signing ceremony.

Referring to the US withdrawal from the Iran Deal, Macaire said that his country and other countries are committed to the Iran Deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and will continue its commercial exchanges with Iran.

He added that there are some disagreements between the US and EU, but Europe will support the companies that intend to work with Iran.

The first heads of agreement (HOA) was signed with Pergas Consortium, a group of international oil and gas companies, for developing Karanj Oilfield in Khuzestan Province, the first such deal after US withdrawal from the JCPOA.

The agreement was signed by Director of National Iranian South Oil Company’s (NISOC) Bijan Alipour and Pergas Consortium Managing Director Colin Rowley.

If the two sides reach a final deal, which should largely correspond to the Iran Petroleum Contract – the new model of Iran’s oil and gas contracts, the field’s output will increase up to 200,000 barrels per day.

The overall plan envisages extraction of 655 million barrels of oil from the field within a 10-year period.

The cooperation involves boosting wells’ pressure, establishing compressor stations, construction of facilities to harness and transfer the associated petroleum gas (APG) with the capacity of 280 million cubic meters per day, establishment of desalting units to process 100,000 bpd of crude, drilling 35 new wells, and upgrading 15 other wells.

Pergas Consortium is made up of 11 European, Asian and Canadian companies involved in developing hydrocarbon fields.

Karanj is producing 127,000 barrels of oil a day, and Iran plans to use gas injection to boost the output to 200,000 barrels a day over 10 years, the NIOC said. The field was discovered in 1963 and production began the following year.