TEHRAN (PIN) – The contract on the development of Golshan and Ferdowsi gas fields was inked in the presence of Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari and Malaysian Ambassador Monshe Afdzaruddin here yesterday.

The deal was signed by Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) Managing Director Ali Vakili, who represented National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), and Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhari, the head of Malaysia’s Al-Bukhari Foundation.
According to the contract, SKS Ventures, a subsidiary of Al-Bukhari Foundation, will develop the two gas fields in southern Iran.
The two sides had already signed a $16 billion memorandum of understanding on the development of two gas fields and the establishment of LNG production units. The agreement was signed between the state-owned NIOC and SKS.
Nozari said the new method of signing buyback contracts and participation of both sides was welcomed by foreign companies.
“Development of the upstream section of the two gas fields will be implemented by Malaysia’s SKS Ventures based on a buyback contract,” he said.
“Another long-term 25-year contract is expected to be inked on the downstream section of the fields,” he added.
Golshan field holds 42 to 56 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of in-place gas. Golshan is located 180 km southeast of Bushehr city, southern Hormuzgan Province, 65 km (40 miles) from Iran’s shore. Ferdowsi field, located 190 km southeast of Bushehr and 85 km from the Iranian coast, has estimated in situ gas reserves of 9 to 13 10 tcf.
Iran’s estimated gas reserves, the world’s second-largest after Russia, amount to 971.150 tcf (more than 26 tcm). The country is in urgent need of developing its gas fields both to cover domestic consumption and fulfill its gas export plans for Europe and Eastern Asia.
------------------------------------------------ Investment talks
Vakili said the POGC was holding wide-ranging negotiations with companies on investment in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ), Assaluyeh.
“We are about to sign big investment contracts,” said POGC head, promising to give good news in the near future.
He added, “In defiance of international pressures for boycotting companies that invest in Iran, scores of giant companies from different countries are keen to make investment in Iran.”
Vakili said, “Based on policies of National Iranian Oil Company, we have to develop and exploit the fields of South Pars, North Pars, Golshan, Ferdowsi, and Farsi as soon as possible.”
He pointed to the POGC’s plan on the development of South Pars gas field and said five refining phases out of 24 planned phases had been so far put into operation. Vakili added phases 6-10 and 15-18 development plans were being carried out by the POGC, expressing hope phases 6-10 would become operational in 2008.
The official said 2008 would be the booming year for South Pars field as five phases would come on stream. The development of SP field had played not only economic role, but also cultural role as it had raised the hope of domestic human resources, said the POGC chief, adding contracting companies, consulting engineers, and research and varsity centers were working in the region.
Aiming to use local capabilities, POGC had signed scores of domestic contractors and consultants for the South Pars projects, said Vakili.
He added 30 percent of domestic experts worked in South Pars projects nine years ago, but the figure had now reached 51 percent.
The POGC managing director expressed hope the participation of Iranian experts in the South Pars development plans would soar to 60 percent.