TEHRAN, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Negotiations are underway between Iran and Turkey to transfer Iranian oil to Europe via Turkey, official IRNA news agency quoted a senior Iranian energy official as saying on Tuesday.
Deputy Petroleum Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia made the remarks Tuesday in the 22nd World Petroleum Congress which was held in Ankara, Turkey.
Ankara has suggested that Iran's gas can be transferred to Europe through Turkey, he said.
Iran has planned to increase its gas production and seeks larger presence in the international markets.
Last week, Iran and a consortium of Chinese and French energy giants signed a multi-billion-dollar deal to develop a major Iranian gas field in the Persian Gulf.
The deal followed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the National Iranian Oil Company and a consortium involving China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), France's Total and Iran's Petropars in November 2016 to develop Iran's South Pars (SP11) gas field.
According to Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the contract for development of the gas field is worth 4.8 billion U.S. dollars.
The contract will be carried out in two phases with a total period of 20 years.
Iran expects to produce as much as 56 million cubic meters per day of natural gas from the field once it is in full swing, he said.
The South Pars field is a natural gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is the world's largest gas field shared between Iran and Qatar.
According to the International Energy Agency, the field holds an estimated 51 trillion cubic meters of in-situ natural gas and some 50 billion barrels of natural gas condensate.
