India looks to access 21.68 tcf of Iranian gas with new contract.

In a renewed effort to hold on to promising energy assets, New Delhi has offered Iran an integrated package for developing the Farzad B field in the West Asian country, which includes swapping gas from the field with other Iranian gas at Chabahar port and also laying pipeline for transportation of the surplus gas to India.

The Farzad B field, estimated to have 21.68 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves, was found by ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of oil and gas major ONGC, thanks to a 2008 preliminary pact with Iranian authorities, but no formal contract to exploit the resources has been signed till date. US sanctions on Iran prevented both sides from making any headway in commercial exploitation of the reserves, with each blaming the other for the delay.

With India offering a new package, Iran has now said that it would renegotiate the deal as per a new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), which is likely to be unveiled in November, according to official sources. Developing the Farzad B block in the Persian Gulf requires an investment of $3-5 billion.

Tehran hasn't yet taken a call on India's offer, sources said, adding that both the countries were, however, considering laying an undersea pipeline or revive the stalled Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline.


THE INDIAN EXPRESS