Italy is set to sign a contract with Iran this weekend to develop the Darkhovin oil field in the country's southwest, The Wall Street Journal Europe said Thursday, June 21.
The contract was expected to be worth nearly $1 billion (1.17 billion euros), said the paper, quoting industry sources. ENI chief executive Vittorio Mincato was expected to sign the deal on Sunday in Tehran, the paper said. ENI officials declined to comment on the report to AFP.
The deal was likely to be followed soon after by an investment by Spanish company Cepsa in an oil field called Chasmeh Khush, the paper said.
The trend was likely to test the response of US President George W. Bush's administration to investment in Iran, The Wall Street Journal Europe said.
It said former US president Bill Clinton's administration had largely turned a blind eye to violations by foreign firms of the 1996 Iran-Libya Act and few expected Bush, a former oilman, to be more robust. — (AFP)
© Agence France Presse
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
