Russian oil and gas majors
Gazprom, Gazprom Neft and LUKOIL, have signed billions of dollars worth of
deals to help Iran develop its oil and gas fields but most projects are on
holding because of sanctions.
The document will be signed
on Wednesday when Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi meets his Russian
counterpart Sergei Shmatko in Moscow, the oil ministry said without providing
details.
At best, analysts said, it
will reflect Russia's efforts to walk a safe path between international
sanctions and Moscow's wish to maintain ties with a fellow oil and gas power.
"The ministers will
discuss the current situation in Russia-Iranian energy cooperation and will
outline prospects for future cooperation," the statement said.
"The ministries will
study issues linked to the creation of favorable conditions to intensify and
make cooperation in the energy sphere between Iran and Russia more
concrete," it added.
Russia voted for sanctions in
the United Nations Security Council on June 9 that target Iran’s banking and
shipping sectors because of its failure to allay fears over its disputed
nuclear program.
"Russian companies are
taking a cautious approach to this country at this moment they don't want to
engage in politically risky and financially risky projects," Troika Dialog
analyst Valery Nesterov said.
"The maximum terms they
can offer are oil services contracts which are not especially rewarding as they
don't secure additional oil supplies for the companies."
But Russian state controlled
companies are unlikely to shut down investment or withdraw completely from
Iran, holder of vast untapped oil and gas resources.
Russia's No. 2 oil producer,
LUKOIL — 20 percent owned by US oil major ConocoPhillips — has decreed a halt
to its gasoline exports to fuel-hungry Iran.
But state controlled Gazprom
has said it is bidding to develop the Azar oilfield and has expressed interest
in Iran's giant South Pars field.
The Kremlin's influence in
Tehran is a key lever of influence in its relationship with the United States
and the European Union, which fear Tehran is seeking to create a nuclear bomb.
Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.
"There is an
understanding that Russia needs to engage with Iran at some level," Weafer
said. "The last thing the US would actually want is for Tehran to end up
only speaking to Beijing because that would limit US back door access to
Tehran."
