TEHRAN - Iran’s Oil Exploration Services Company (OESC) and China’s Sinopec plan to sign a contract on exploration and development of the Garmsar oil block on Tuesday in Tehran.

Tenders for sixteen oil blocks were offered between March 2004 and March 2005.

Initial talks were held on the development contracts for four of them, namely Garmsar, Khorramabad, Kuhdasht, and Saveh.

The development of Garmsar was approved by Iran’s Economic Council last month.

The Economic Council also approved the development of the Khorramabad oil block in western Iran, and the contract is to be signed with Norway’s Norsk Hydro Company in the near future.

According to the contract, Norsk Hydro will invest at least $49.5 million for development of the oil block.