"The  association  submitted  a general plan for the development of

the Jofeir field for consideration by the Iranian side, and on May 5 the

National Oil Company of Iran approved the document," the source said.

In the near future the sides plan to start talks to sign a contract

for participation  by  the  Belarussian  side  in the development of the

Jofeir field.

Iran  and  Belarus  signed a memorandum of understanding in the oil

industry  in  the  autumn  of  2006  during  a  visit  by  a Belarussian

government  delegation  to  Iran.  Belarus  plans  a project to organize

remote oil production at Jofeir field under the memorandum.

Belorusneft  Deputy  General Director for geology Valery Beskopylny

said Iran  had  suggested  developing the field on buy-back terms. Under

those terms  the national oil company, which owns the field, would draft

an economic  and engineering plan. The Belarussian company acting as the

general  contractor  would invest in the business plan in a given period

and conduct  exploration and drilling. "As a rule this takes about eight

years," Beskopylny said. Then the general contractor either sells all of

the oil  to  the  company that ordered the work and receives a profit or

receives the product as its own, thus paying for capital investment.

The  Jofeir  field  is located in the border between Iran and Iraq.

Iranian experts said it has capacity for 30,000 barrels of oil per day.

PIN/INTERFAX