Iran, Russia Sign MoU For Oil, Gas Cooperation

Iran and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding pertaining to oil and gas on the sidelines of the 6^th Russian Energy Week International Forum.

The MoU was signed by the chief of Iran’s Institute for International Studies and the CEO of Russia’s Roscongress Foundation, SHANA reported. The two organizations—sharing similar footing over Western sanctions of its oil and gas exports—will team up to study proposed projects for energy cooperation between the two countries. The groups will also form a think tank to study and pursue joint collaborations in terms of energy.

Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji was visiting Moscow this week for Russian Energy Week on an invitation from Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. On Wednesday, Owji disclosed that the two countries both had access to significant reserves of hydrocarbons and said that MoUs had been signed with upstream and downstream companies in Russia, adding that oil and gas cooperation between the two countries was one of the primary reasons for the visit to Moscow.

This week’s visit follows Alexander Novak’s visit to Iran back in May, where he highlighted the benefits of increased cooperation between Iran and Russia in the areas of oil and gas. At the time, Novak visited several oil and gas equipment manufacturers and discussed plans to work together with Owji.

The two countries would benefit from cooperation in the fossil fuels segments, with both countries’ industries being squeezed by Western sanctions. Cooperation between the two could undermine the effectiveness of the sanctions, which has already been called into question. The two countries rely heavily on their oil and gas riches to finance their state budgets, and even current sanctions have failed to strip the two of their fossil fuel-derived revenues.

China remains a large buyer of sanctioned Iranian and Russian crude oil.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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