The comments by Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hameneh came after a swathe of conflicting reports over Inpex’s final stake in Azadegan oil field, which was agreed at 75 percent when the two-billion-dollar deal was signed in 2004.
The share of Inpex “has been cut from 75 percent to 10 percent in the project to develop the Azadegan oil field,” Vaziri-Hameneh said, according to the Mehr news agency.
“The Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO) will be put in charge of the operations,” he added, referring to the Iranian company which was Inpex’s original partner in the project.
Vaziri-Hameneh had the day earlier described reports the stake had been slashed to 10 percent as “not precise” and insisted that talks between the two sides were continuing.
“It is still possible that the Japanese participate with a share of 75 percent in the project,” he told state television late on Saturday.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency had on Saturday quoted a top Iranian oil official as saying Japan could regain a majority share if “Inpex solves its domestic problems.”
But Vaziri-Hameneh said: “The fate of Inpex in the contract is clear. It is not possible to imagine a return” to the original scenario.
“The reason they have been allotted 10 percent is because this firm took action to develop (Azadegan) and for this reason we accepted to give them 10 percent,” he said, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
Analysts have speculated Japan could have held the talks up amid the looming threat of sanctions against Iran and US pressure not to cut a deal at a time of tension over the Iranian nuclear programme.
Iran could also now face problems financing the development of Azadegan — which lies in th far southwest close to the Iraqi border — with Japan playing a more minor role than originally intended.
The deal, signed in February 2004, targeted production of 260,000 barrels per day from Azadegan, which has an estimated 26 billion barrels in place. Work had been due to start on the oil field by March 2005.
