Iran, Turkey sign deal to develop world's largest gas field
Thursday, October 29, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
ANKARA Ñ Iran and Turkey have signed an energy exploration accord.
Officials said Ankara and Teheran signed a memorandum of understanding that would pave the way for Turkish companies to develop Iran's natural gas reserves.
They said the MoU, signed on Oct. 28, would focus on exploration of Iran's South Pars gas field, deemed the largest in the world.
In March, Iran blamed U.S. sanctions for dropping France's largest energy company from a major natural gas project.
The Iranian Oil Ministry rejected the participation of France's Total in the South Pars gas project.
At the time, the ministry's National Iranian Oil Co. said it had instead selected an unnamed partner to develop Iran's largest gas reserves.
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the agreement, capping negotiations that began in July 2007, would enable Iran to become a leading gas supplier to Ankara. Yildiz said Turkey's participation in South Pars could be worth up to $4 billion.
Officials said Turkey could serve as a waystation for Iranian gas to Europe. They said the exploration of South Pars was expected to begin imminently.