Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said US companies...
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said US companies would face no restrictions if they chose to participate in the development of Iranian oil fields.
"I have already said we have no problem," the press quoted him as saying Saturday, when asked to comment on the speculation about the participation of American firms in the development of a massive oil field, which Tehran signed recently with Japan.
The deal, worth US$2 billion, followed a lengthy course of negotiations between Iranian and Japanese sides, and were dogged by fierce US opposition.
"Not only in the Azadegan field in the form of cooperation with Japan, but any tender which American companies opt to participate, no problem will be created for them on our part," Zanganeh said. The United States has banned American firms from engaging in any Iranian development work under the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), which was adopted during the tenure of former President Bill Clinton.
A senior Iranian official was recently quoted as saying that the Japanese were very interested in involving the Americans in Azadegan, whose in place reserves are estimated at 26 billion barrels. The Japanese reportedly wanted to know whether Iran would accept US investment and whether it was willing to release part of its holding in the scheme.
