Gazprom to help develop Iran's oil and gas  

Yet another Bush administration foreign policy success - Iran has to decided to let Gazprom help develop its oil and gas reserves.

IRAN and Gazprom have signed an agreement for the Russian energy giant to help Teheran develop its oil and gas fields. The move comes just days after Total dropped out of a multibillion-dollar gas deal and also after Iran announced overnight it has discovered a new oil field.

Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said the oil field in province of Khuzesta holds 1.1 billion barrels of sweet crude oil, of which 233 million is recoverable.

“The Iranian National Oil Company and Gazprom signed an agreement in which the two sides will cooperate in the development of Iran's oil and gas fields,” the oil ministry's Shana news agency said.

No financial details were given but the agreement signals Iran's determination to secure Russian help for exploiting its energy resources as Western countries pull out due to political pressure.

The head of French energy giant Total last week said it was dropping out of a multibillion-dollar gas investment to develop phase 11 of the South Pars gas field, saying it was currently too risky politically to invest in Iran.