Germany’s biggest oil and gas company Wintershall says it is looking into a plan to collaborate with Russia’s energy giant Gazprom over projects in Iran.
The announcement was made by Thilo Wieland, a member of Wintershall board responsible for exploration and production in Russia, Libya, South America.
“Our partnership with Gazprom is based on trust, so we are open for possible joint projects,” Wieland told Rambler News website.
“If Iran provides an opportunity, we, of course, will thoroughly consider it,” he added, noting that Iran is a country with considerable resources, and therefore is very interesting to Wintershall.
The announcement came as Iran is recently shown an extended favor to Gazprom, as well as other Russian energy firms.
The country’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in late May that the Islamic Republic had signed a basic agreement with Gazprom over the development of three major gas projects.
Zanganeh added that the projects were Farzad B, North Pars and Kish.
In his interview with Rambler News, Wieland further emphasized that Iran was part of Wintershall’s strategy for targeting key regions. He reminded that the company had signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for certain projects – what he said was in line with the same strategy.
NIOC chief Ali Kardor said last September that Wintershall was among a slew of companies that had signed basic deals to study Iranian oil and gas project.
The details of the deals, he said, could not be disclosed due to the confidentiality of negotiations.
A subsidiary of BASF, Wintershall is Germany’s largest internationally active crude oil and natural gas producer.
It explores and produces oil and gas in Europe, North Africa, South America, Russia, and the Middle East.
It has been active for over 85 years and has a workforce in excess of about 2,000 employees from more than 40 nationalities.
