Speaking to Shana, the Deputy NIOC CEO for Development and Engineering Affairs, Reza Dehghan, said Farzad "B" Field will be developed by the Iranian company Petropars, but the National Iranian Oil Company always welcomes the presence of foreign investors along with Iranian contractors.

"The negotiations with the Indian side for the development of this field took more than a decade and Iran tapped all its available capacities to complete these negotiations, but despite long and numerous rounds of talks and showing great flexibility on the part of the National Iranian Oil Company, the negotiations did not come to fruition,” he said.

He added: "Since procrastination in joint fields is not allowed, the National Iranian Oil Company decided to determine the fate of this field by handing it over to one of the Iranian exploration and production companies, and this was in line with the head of agreement (HOA) for developing the field that was signed last year with the Petropars Group.”

The official further said that NIOC would welcome presence of foreign investors in its projects, “and the Indian side can act as a partner of Petropars in this project if it seeks cooperation."