In an interview with Shana, Fereydoun Kurd Zanganeh said: “Despite the sanctions, NIOC, in line with the strategic document of long-term cooperation between Iran and China, continues to negotiate with the private and state companies of this country for the development of the Yadavaran field and other joint fields in Iran.”

He noted that the first phase of the Yadavaran oil field was already completed by Sinopec in 2015 with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day and is productive, adding: “According to the negotiations with this company, the second phase of the development of this joint field was also planned to be handed over to this company, but unfortunately, at that time, the former oil minister stopped the negotiations, therefore, in the past year, NIOC has conducted regular negotiations with Chinese companies in the development of oil and gas fields.”

The investment and business manager of NIOC emphasized that Sinopec has not yet announced in any way that it will not cooperate in the development of the Yadavaran field, and stated: “The officials negotiating with this company at NIOC are looking for new ways to use the investment opportunity I Yadavaran Oilfield.”

Stressing that the development of the Yadavaran field is one of the priority projects of NIOC, Kurd Zanganeh said: “The early production plan of the Yadavaran field is in line with the main plan of the Chinese company, and some of my colleagues in the subsidiary companies have had discussions about this field and negotiations with the Chinese side. It should be done with the coordination of the National Iranian Oil Company because the negotiations are going on confidentially at the management levels of the two companies.”

He considered the integration of the joint Azadegan field and the development of joint oil fields with Iraq among the axes of the negotiations with Sinopec, and added: “Now, due to the identification of the shareholders of the consortium developing this field, NIOC, as the employer, has requested in our negotiations with this Chinese company to be present as an investor in this field.”

The NIOC official further stated: “Last year, Sinopec, which has a history of cooperation with Iran in the first stage of the development of the North Azadegan field, offered to cooperate with us again.”

Kurd Zanganeh, referring to the negotiations between NIOC and the administration to use the China-Iran credit line for the development of joint oil fields, added: “In the last negotiations we had with one of the large Chinese companies, this company was willing to invest three to one (one share for Iran, three shares for China) in the Iran LNG project using the China-Iran credit line.”

Bartering crude oil with commodities

He considered the exchange of crude oil with goods as another focus of the negotiations of the National Iranian Oil Company with Chinese companies, and stated: "In order to buy goods from inside or outside, the standards of the National Iranian Oil Company must be followed, if the desired results are reached in the negotiations, there is no doubt we will tap this capacity to attract capital in the country's oil industry.”