Lukoil Looking for Opportunities in Middle East and Iran

An official with Russian energy company Lukoil says the firm’s target area in the Middle East is Iran at the moment, but it also seeks opportunities for growth in other regional countries as well.

The Moscow-based company plans to add output from the region to existing operations in Iraq and Egypt as long as it finds projects with production costs as low as those in Russia, Gati Al-Jebouri, Lukoil’s head of upstream for the Middle East, told reporters in Dubai.

“Iran is our target area at the moment,” Al-Jebouri said.

Lukoil is in talks with National Iranian Oil Co., the Persian Gulf country’s state producer, about the Ab Teymour and Mansouri oil fields in western Iran, he said. Al-Jebouri said he hoped the companies could agree on a common development program for the fields in the first half of the year before proceeding to commercial negotiations and a partnership.

Iran has outlined about 70 oil and natural gas fields that it said it will open to foreign investors as the country seeks funding and technology after international sanctions eased last year, Bloomberg reported.

In Iraq initial results of Lukoil’s exploration at the Block 10 area are “very positive” and the company plans to drill one or two more wells at the deposit in the country’s south this year, he said. Crude from the deposit will probably be similar in quality to that from the nearby West Qurna field, where Lukoil operates a production venture, Al-Jebouri said.

Elsewhere, Lukoil is exploring opportunities in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, he said. The company is leaving a natural gas exploration venture with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. after the project in the kingdom’s Empty Quarter desert didn’t find commercially viable deposits of the fuel, he said. Lukoil returned four gas exploration wells to Saudi Aramco, as the state producer is known, at the end of last year and will shut joint the venture by the middle of 2017, he said.

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.

Recent Posts

Iran Judiciary chief orders review of pardon request for 2 detained journalists

The spokesperson for Iran’s Judiciary announced that two detained Iranian journalists, convicted of collaborating with…

7 hours ago

Iran hands death sentences to 3 Israel spies over their role in nuclear scientist assassination

An Iranian court has sentenced three individuals affiliated with Israel to death after they were…

11 hours ago

Iran says to respond to Israel’s assault at appropriate time

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has warned that Tehran will give a proper response…

11 hours ago

Judiciary: Jamshid Sharmahd dies before execution of death sentence

A spokesperson for Iran’s Judiciary announced that Jamshid Sharmahd, leader of the “Tondar” terrorist group…

11 hours ago

Israeli PM considers offering millions to Hamas for release of hostages

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed offering Hamas “several million dollars” for each Israeli…

12 hours ago

Israel’s army struggling with shortage of soldiers: Report

Israel’s military is facing a critical manpower problem as it runs short of thousands of…

12 hours ago