He referred to Edison’s contract with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on the exploration of Dayyer Block, adding the executive operations of exploration would kick off maximum within the next six months.
Quadrino shifted to the exports of Iran’s gas to Europe and said negotiations on the project had reached the MOU level, adding “we are exploring all avenues to transfer Iran’s gas to Europe.”
The Edison official said, “Given the growing gas consumption in Europe, 11 billion cubic meters of gas should be transferred through pipelines or LNG carriers to the continent per annum.”
He added the Italian company was keen to import at least three billion cubic meters of gas of the volume Europe needed.
“To this end, Edison is planning to set up LNG terminals in coastal areas of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea,” said the chief executive official.
National Iranian Oil Company and Edison SpA here Wednesday signed a contract on the exploration of Dayyer Block, an offshore area in the Persian Gulf, here Wednesday.
The deal was inked by the NIOC exploration affairs head Seyed Mahmoud Mohaddes and Edison vice president Petero Cavano in the presence of Iran’s Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari and Italian Ambassador to Tehran Roberto Toscano.
According to the contract, Esison will make a 107 million dollar investment in the exploration operations.
Mohaddes talking in the signing ceremony said the agreement included basic studies, seismographic measurement, geological operation, and drilling of one well.
The official added the project would last four years and operations would be carried out in an 8,500 square kilometer area in the Persian Gulf.
Dayyer is among the 17 exploration blocks that are based in the Persian Gulf.
The NIOC exploration manager had already announced that the contracts of three exploration blocks would be inked by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2008)
“The technical proposals for the three blocks of the total 17 will be finalized within the period,” he told reporters.
The trio were border Danan block, offshore Dayyer block, and offshore Laleh block, he added.
Iran has this year been promoting an international exploration tender for 17 onshore and offshore blocks.
The original deadline for receiving offers was June, but the NIOC announced early that month that it was extending the limit by a further month.
Iran’s oil and gas reserves are among the world’s largest, a huge prize for international companies.
A seminar introducing 17 Iranian exploration blocks was held in Vienna, Australia, in early Feb. 2007 and was welcomed enthusiastically by international oil companies.
The 17 oil blocks set aside for simultaneous exploration and development are located in Ilam, Danan, Fassa, Bandar Abbas, Qouchan, Kalat, Kavir, Raz, Maraveh Tappeh, Moghan and Naftshahr regions. There are also Alvand, Dayyer, Laleh, Ferdowsi, and Taban blocks, which are located in the Persian Gulf.
The blocks are located in Khorassan Razavi, Northern Khorassan, Semnan, Ardebil, East Azarbaijan, Golestan, Ilam, Kermanshah, Fars and Ardebil provinces.
Early estimates show that a total of 450 million euros should be invested in the blocks and the figure may increase as the results of exploration operations are made known.