Friday, Oct 15, 2010
(Adds spokesman's comments, background)
By Mari Iwata
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japanese oil and natural gas producer Inpex Corp. (1605.TO) said Friday it has agreed with Iran's state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. to exit from Azadegan oil field.
The withdrawal is expected to have little impact on its financial results, Inpex said in a statement, without mentioning a date of exit or when the agreement had been reached.
After Japan tightened its sanctions against Iran on Sept. 3, to align itself with the U.S. and European countries, Inpex has been the center of attention regarding a possible pullout from the massive oil project in Iran.
However, Inpex didn't mention a specific reason for the decision.
A company spokesman said the agreement includes conditions of Inpex's handing over its 10% stake in Azadegan to NIOC. The Japanese company won't be required to pay any compensation to NIOC for exiting, he added, but declined to give further details.
Inpex slashed its stake in Azadegan to 10% from 75% in 2006, ceding its role as operator to NIOC amid tension between the U.S. and Iran over the Middle Eastern country's uranium processing and nuclear power development.
Some media reports at the time said that the Japanese government had responded to U.S. pressure by convincing Inpex to reduce its role in Iran.
Development work at the field has been virtually non-existent since then.
-By Mari Iwata, Dow Jones Newswires; +81-3-6269-2798; mari.iwata@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
15-10-10 0712GMT
