November 30, 2003	Sunday	Shawwal 5, 1424

TEHRAN, Nov 29: Iran is pressing ahead with plans to develop its giant Azadegan oilfield with the help of foreign investors, a senior Iranian official said.

Ali Akbar Ale Agha of the Petroleum Engineering and Development Co (PEDEC) told reporters that Tehran is weeks away from setting a deadline for bids in the $2 billion investment race for the southern part of Azadegan that has widened to include Norway’s Statoil and France’s Total along with a Japanese consortium.

“Perhaps within the next two weeks we will set a deadline for the technical bids,” he said, adding that the deadline is likely to be a few months away.

Iranian officials have said a deal for development of Azadegan’s southern sector, could be signed by the summer of 2004 — a date Ale Agha found possible to meet.

Iran might also invite several more companies to bid for Azadegan, which lies on the border with Iraq and contains 25-35 billion barrels of reserves.

“There is no reason why we will not allow a few others,” said Ale Agha, one of the National Iranian Oil companies’ chief negotiators with oil multinationals.

Aside from attracting billions in badly needed foreign investment, development of the untapped Azadegan — which could pump a total of 600,000 barrels daily — is vital to “maintaining Iran’s predominant position in Opec,” he said.

But Iran’s plans were set back after a Japanese consortium missed a June deadline to agree a deal on the southern sector, which could pump 300,000 barrels daily.

Japan is juggling its desire to develop the field against US pressure to back off due to concerns that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies the charges.

Ale Agha said the Japanese consortium, which includes state-backed Japan Petroleum Exploration Co and INPEX Corp as well as trader Tomen Corp, is still in the running for the project.

“So far there is no indication they want to pull out,” he said.

Iran’s decision to open up the competition for South Azadegan was purely commercial, he added.

“There was no frustration, anger or games,” he said. “To find the best bidder, it was commercially proper to go through the tender process.”

The PEDEC official, partly responsible for negotiating upstream projects with foreign oil firms, said Iran had not invited BP to bid on Azadegan.

Both Royal Dutch/Shell and ENI turned down Tehran’s invitation. Italy’s ENI “had only limited funds available at the time,” he said.

The northern sector of Azadegan has meanwhile attracted interest from China’s Sinopec, Russia’s Lukoil, India’s ONGC and Spain’s Repsol, said the PEDEC official.—Reuters