Iran and Iraq will start new round of talks in Tehran on May 26 on issues such as developing the Sohrab joint oilfield and establishing a joint oil company.
A committee of technical managers of the oil ministries of the two sides will be set up, aiming to review the projects which are jointly underway, the Mehr News Agency reported, adding that a joint company is projected to be established in Tehran.
The managing director of the National Iranian Central Oilfields Company, Mehdi Fakour, has said that currently eight drilling rigs are in operation in joint oilfields with Iraq and the output is satisfactory.
Iran produces some 68,000 barrels per day of crude oil in four oilfields associated with Iraq (Naftshahr, Paydar Gharb, Dehloran and Aban).
Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in August 2011 that the Iranian government should consider plans for the development of joint oilfields in the border areas with Iraq.
By the end of the fifth development plan (2015), the country's oil production must increase to 5.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and this should happen from the country's joint fields," the ISNA News Agency quoted Qasemi as saying.
On January 9, 2011, Iran and Iraq announced that the two countries have reached an agreement to develop joint oil fields on border areas to increase their crude output.
Both countries are members of the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC) which supplies about 40 percent of the world's oil.
Iran shares oil and gas fields with most of its neighbors, including Iraq, Kuwait, Persian Gulf littoral countries, Qatar and Oman, as well as Turkmenistan.
Iranian energy officials said in July 2011 that as much as 35 percent of the country's energy development budget will go towards the development of joint oilfields.
Having the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves, Iran has moved in recent years towards becoming a major exporter of refined oil and petrochemical products with significant success.
© Tehran Times 2012
