(ET)
Talks between India and Iran over the rights to develop a gas field in the Islamic Republic have stalled in the wake of fresh US sanctions, people familiar with the matter said.
A consortium of Indian state-owned oil companies, led by Oil & Natural Gas Corp, has been negotiating with Iran for two years for the development rights of Farzad B gas field it discovered in Iran a decade ago. The resurrection of sanctions prompted Indian companies to freeze the matter. Sanctions are a huge project execution risk because it would be hard to obtain finance and rope in oilfield services companies, which are mostly US-controlled, people familiar with the matter said.
This follows the cancellation of a $5 billion contract to develop the massive South Pars offshore gas field by French giant Total, signalling the wariness of foreign companies in participating in Iran’s exploration sector under sanctions.
