TEHRAN, Dec 24: Senior Iranian energy officials on Saturday celebrated the Islamic state’s first gas production from the North Sea as part of a joint venture with BP.

The Rhum field is the UK’s largest undeveloped gas deposit. Production began on Tuesday with 130 million cubic feet a day and is expected to rise to 300 million cubic feet a day.

Iranian officials said the field was developed jointly by BP and a subsidiary of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), at a cost of £350m. Each company holds a 50pc stake.

“Based on today’s international gas market price, the gas deposit is worth around $4 billion,” deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian told the ISNA students news agency.

“The two companies signed a Production Service Association (PSA) contract making them partners in production and revenue,” he added.

NIOC Managing Director Mehdi Mirmoezi told ISNA the joint venture “will boost the Iranian National Oil Company’s financial situation and will strengthen the government.”—Reuters