Iran, Qatar to Develop Oil, Gas Cooperation

26. Feb. 2010

Iranian and Qatari officials in a meeting in Tehran underlined the necessity for the expansion of mutual cooperation in the oil and gas sectors. "The meeting was aimed at developing oil and gas cooperation in region and defining infrastructures for increasing trade exchanges at the international levels," Qatari Minister of State in Energy and Industries, Mohammad ibn Saleh Al Sadah, said on the sidelines of a meeting with Iranian oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazzemi here in Tehran.

"In the meeting with Iranian oil minister, the ground was paved for us to be more hopeful than the past about the future of cooperation with Iran in the energy sector," Al Sadeh added. He also reiterated that Iran and Qatar have had good and long-term cooperation with each other in the oil sector and that the two sides have planned and implemented very desirable measures in this regard. Al Sadeh also underlined that a gas conference underway in Qatar, of which Iran is one of the organizers, is an instance of such cooperation between Tehran and Doha. Iran and Qatar have expanded their economic ties and cooperation in recent years, with Qatar's National Bank (QNB) planning to invest €400 million in Iran's Esfandiar oilfield in the Persian Gulf. The South Pars/North Dome field is a natural gas condensate field located on the Persian Gulf. It is the world''s largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar. This gas field covers an area of 9700 square kilometers, of which 3700 square kilometers (South Pars) is in Iranian territorial waters and 6000 square kilometers (North Dome) is in Qatari territorial waters.

It is estimated to hold around 1800 Tscf of gas in place and some 50 billion barrels of condensate. The field's recoverable gas reserve is equivalent to some 215 billion barrel of oil and it also holds about 16 billion barrels of recoverable condensate corresponding of about 230 billion barrel of oil equivalent recoverable hydrocarbons. Head of the Financial Office of Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) Hossein Jafari in January reiterated that according to Iran's regulations on financing contracts in the oil industry, 85% of primary investments in financing projects should be provided by the investors, but Qatar's National Bank is to provide 100% of the funding. 
[Fars]