“We had meetings with executives from Inpex many times. They asked us how they could find a foreign operator, so we advised them to negotiate with major European companies with high technology,” the Japan Times quoted Kardor as saying recently, according to IRNA.
“Azadegan is a huge oil field. We certainly need new technology introduced by foreign firms. Forming a consortium would be better for both sides.'
'Inpex, Japan’s largest oil and gas exploration and production company, signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct studies for Azadegan in June 2016.'
“It is true that we are mulling how we should deal with Azadegan, though we cannot announce details,' the spokesperson for Inpex confirmed as receiving the invitation letter from NIOC, Japan Times reported.
'The NIOC will soon provide all necessary data about the Azadegan oil field to interested firms. It will take about six months to gather technical and financial proposals from all applicants and evaluate them, and the contractor will be finalized by early next year,' Japanese media quoted Kardor as saying.
'In addition to Inpex, Total S.A., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and China National Petroleum Corp. have already signed memoranda of understanding with NIOC. Several other oil giants, including Eni and BP, have expressed a desire to participate in the tender.'