To a question whether Petronas will contribute to development of Esfandiar, Manouchehri said the company is not volunteering development of Esfandiar but other companies have proposed cooperation and "we are busy in talks."
On reasons of international companies' willingness for cooperation with Iranian oil industry even after approval of the Iran Sanctions Action (ISA) in the US, he said at current oil prices, investment in deep fields like depths of the Gulf of Mexico or unconventional reserves is not economically justified. "Under present conditions, the cost price of oil production in Iran has made foreign companies interested in investment in our country's hydrocarbon fields. Besides the MoUs signed, 10 more MoUs will be signed in the future."
As for South Azadegan field, he said except Petronas company, with which a MoU for study was signed today, Shell, Total, CNPC and Inpex have signed the MoU for study of the field.
To another question whether there is the possibility for development of fields west of Karoon by a single consortium, he said the NIOC prefers domination of atmosphere of competition over development of the fields.
The NIOC and Malaysian Petronas signed a MoU for cooperation on Wednesday afternoon, based on which the Malaysian company will study South Azadegan and Cheshme Khosh fields.