The agreement, which was inked in the presence of Iran’s President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi and Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, is aimed at preparing a Master Development Plan (MDP) for the joint oil field, and different scenarios for further development and bilateral cooperation on exploitation of the field.

The agreement was signed following memorandums of understanding (MoUs) inked during last year’s Oman visit of Iran’s Oil Minister accompanying President Raeisi.

Iran had earlier signed several MoUs with neighboring states on integrated development of joint fields, but none of them made progress and led to an agreement. This is the first agreement on cooperation between Iran and a neighboring country in a shared field. This agreement, however, has yet to include the field development, as the development contract is pending and will be signed after the MDP preparation.