In the coming weeks, a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between Iran and Azerbaijan in the field of oil, gas and the development of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Ovji said.
The minister also said that during yesterday’s talks with the Azerbaijani side, an agreement was also reached on energy cooperation with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
According to Ovji, the expert delegations of the two countries discussed the development of oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea. “On this occasion, the first meetings were held, and the expert delegations of the two countries are discussing this issue,” he explained.
According to the Caspian Barrel Oil Research Center, the signing of the upcoming new Memorandum of Understanding in the field of oil and gas between Azerbaijan and Iran will be another document in this area. Since before that, similar documents were signed between state-owned companies of the two countries, and then between the relevant government departments.
On February 23, 2016, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the oil and gas sector was signed in Tehran between SOCAR and the National Oil Company of Iran, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between SOCAR and the Iranian investment company GEDR.
On March 28, 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Baku between the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Oil of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the joint development of relevant blocks (Block 1 – in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea and Block 2 – in the Iranian sector of the Caspian Sea) in the Caspian Sea. On April 23 of the same year, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev also approved the document by his decree. However, over the past years, things in this direction have not moved beyond the signed documents, since the parties did not have any legally binding rights. Even if a commercial contract could be signed between the parties, its implementation in practice is very difficult. The point is not only about the sanctions against Iran, they are temporary, the question is different – in technology and investments.
