Mehdi Bazargan added that during the trip, both presidents agreed to continue talks on development plan of Jofair oil field to finalize the negotiations in a few months.

Noting that technical negotiations on development plan of Jofair oil field have been finalized, the official stated that draft contract on development of the oil field has been forwarded to Belarusneft Company and contractual negotiations are underway.

Managing director of Petroleum Engineering and Development Company stated that contractual negotiatotions focus on many details and usually take, at least, three months.

Bazargan had already told Petroenergy Information Network that Petroleum Engineering and Development Company had finalized technical negotiations on developing Jofair oil field with a Belarusian company.

Mehdi Bazargan added that the negotiations will lead to contract signing on July 1.

“The draft agreement intended by the National Iranian Oil Company on development of Jofair oil field has been submitted to Belarusneft Company,” he said.

The official stated that preliminary sessions on the contract have been held and the Belarusian company has been studying the text of the contract for the past few weeks.

“We have proposed to Belarusneft Company to finalized negotiations on developing Jofair oil field by the end of June, so that, the contract could be signed at the beginning of July. The company has accepted our proposal and we should wait and see what happens in practice,” he said.

Asked about Belarusneft’s investing partner, the official stated that after the contract for developing Jofair oil field is finalized, the company can introduce its partner for joint investment in the field and National Iranian Oil Company will investigate about the partner company.

Iran and Belarus signed an early agreement on developing Jofair oil field late last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2007).

The minister of petroleum in his recent visit to Minsk said, “Belarus is oil producers and was an energy heartland for the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It seems that the country is capable of developing Iranian oil fields.”

Jofair oil field is predicted to produce a daily average of 30,000 barrels crude oil per day once its development is finished. Of course, accurate production figure over long run will depend on conditions of the field during production period.