A Japanese consortium and Royal Dutch/Shell are planning to invest about $8.2 billion in developing an oil field in Iran, reported the official Iranian news agency (IRNA)on Sunday.
The consortium will put up two thirds of the investment while the rest will be up to Royal Dutch/Shell.
The Japanese government will present its development plans to Iran on Monday, IRNA said.
The consortium includes Indonesian Petroleum Ltd. and Japanese trading house Tomen Corp.
The Azadegan oil field is estimated to hold up to 40 billion barrels of oil, one of the biggest in the Middle East.
Production is expected to begin in 2005, with a maximum daily output of 800,000 barrels, the agency said, adding that much of the oil was expected to be shipped to Japan. Japan's decision to invest in Iran's oil industries, the biggest ever made by Japan in Iran, is in defiance of US sanctions against Iran.
A senior US State Department official said recently that the Bush administration is lobbying for a two-year extension of a law that punishes foreign investment in the Libyan and Iranian oil industries.
The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ISLA) expires in August after five years, and the powerful pro-Israeli lobby is pressing for a full five-year extension of the controversial legislation.
A group of US senators said recently that they had the support of 74 out of 100 senators for the full extension. A majority in the House of Representatives has also endorsed it.
European governments strongly object to ILSA because it attempts to extend US law to activities of foreign companies operating outside US jurisdiction – Albawaba.com
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