Livemint: India Hopeful of Reviving Farsi block, LNG Deals with Iran

India is hopeful that its decision to continue to engage with Iran, disregarding Western sanctions aimed at stopping the Persian Gulf nation from developing nuclear weapons, will help it land lucrative oil deals in the country. On Thursday, negotiators at Lausanne in Switzerland reached an agreement that may result in lifting of trade restrictions on Iran that has crippled the country’s economy.

Once the sanctions are lifted, Iran is likely to open up its substantive hydrocarbon reserves to Indian companies which may also include production-sharing contracts as part of a payback.

An Indian consortium comprising ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) won a bid for the Farsi block in 2002 from National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC). Although the group does not have ownership rights, it was to be paid a 15% return on investment once it was awarded development rights for Farzad-B gas field in the offshore Farsi block. MORE