Iraq’s new ambassador to Iran has noted that his country is planning to make joint investment with Iran in the Azadegan oil field which is shared by the two countries.
Rajih al-Mussawi was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying on Tuesday that Iran and Iraq are going to develop the Azadegan oil field as a joint venture and the two countries will soon make joint investment in the field.
Explaining on the situation of the development plan for the Azadegan oil field, the Iraqi diplomat noted that officials from both countries’ oil ministries have been in negotiations over the development of the field.
“Iran and Iraq are planning to implement a joint plan for the development of this field and, therefore, joint investment will soon be made in the Azadegan oil field,” he added.
Moussawi emphasized that negotiations over development of the oil field through a joint venture are going on between Tehran and Baghdad and “good news” will be soon published on this issue.
The development plan for Iran's Azadegan oil field was originally supposed to be implemented by Japan's INPEX Corp., but the company withdrew from the project under US pressures in 2010.
File photo shows Iranian oil technicians working at the oil separator facilities in Azadegan oil field, some 800 kilometers (480 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran. ©AP
Earlier this month, a Japanese delegation traveled to Tehran to discuss renewal of economic ties with the Islamic Republic subsequent to the conclusion of Iran's nuclear talks with the P5+1 group of powers in Vienna in which the two sides reach an agreement over Iran's nuclear program.
According to the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the US and the European Union will remove sanctions against Iran's economic and energy sectors in return for certain restrictions in Iran's nuclear program.
Azadegan is the world's third largest oilfield with in-place reserves of about 33.2 billion barrels and recoverable resources of about 6 billion barrels.
Iran shares Azadegan with Iraq which started producing 210,000 barrels per day from the field in April 2014.