Turkey’s Unit International signs $7bn agreement to explore oil and gas in Iran

Unit International in Turkey has signed a $7bn agreement with Russia's state-owned Zarubezhneft and Iran's Ghadir Investment Holding to explore oil and natural gas opportunities in Iran.

Under the agreement, the companies will undertake drilling at three oil fields and one large natural gas field in the country.

It is expected that the three oil fields contain total reserves of around ten billion barrels, while the production capacity is estimated to be about 100,000 barrels per day.

The undisclosed natural gas field is said to have a production capacity of 75 billion cubic metres per annum and will be able to meet Turkey's gas demands for the next 150 years.

In addition, the parties will carry out exploration activities in other regions of the country.

According to the company, the natural gas produced from the drilling programme will be 1.5 times the 50 billion cubic metres of gas imported by Turkey annually.

In June last year, Unit International signed a $4.2bn agreement to build natural gas-based power plants in Iran.

Last year, National Iranian Oil Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft to study the development of Changuleh and Cheshmeh Khosh oil fields situated at the Ilam province.

Earlier this year, the company also signed a MoU with Italian exploration and production company Eni to study the development of Kish gas field and the third phase of Darquain oil field.