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Russia's Lukoil studying two projects in Iran — president

The company is also interested in returning to the Anaran project implemented jointly with Statoil

© AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

VIENNA, June 1. /TASS/. Russia’s oil major Lukoil is studying two projects in Iran, the company's president Vagit Alekperov said Wednesday, adding that Lukoil is also interested in returning to the Anaran project.

"There are two agreements and there is an area of mutual interests. We’re interested in several sites there (in Iran - TASS), though we’re currently involved in preliminary studies of the documents submitted by Iran," he said.

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"Of course we’re interested in returning to our historic projects," Alekperov said and mentioned "Anaran implemented jointly with Statoil" as an example.

According to Alekperov, he plans to discuss the terms of potential contracts with Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on June 2. "I’ll meet him tomorrow. The contract conditions for future investors are one of the key issues," he said, adding that "the new legislation has not been presented yet, and no time-frame has been provided."

Earlier Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky Lukoil had agreed on possible participation in several oil production projects in Iran. In 2003, Lukoil together with Norway’s Nors Hydro set up a consortium with the stakes of 25% and 75% respectively to conduct geological explorations of the Anaran oil fields on the Iranian-Iraqi border. However, in 2011 Lukoil withdrew from the project due to introduction of economic sanctions against Iran. In April 2015, the company opened its representative office in Iran.

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