Iran, Russia to Set up Joint Venture

TEHRAN (FNA) – A Russian official said a joint energy and transportation venture between Iran and Russia will yield a $20bn profit for both sides.

In a press conference on Thursday, Alexander Mariasov, a senior official in the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Iran and Russia will engage in gas, oil and aviation industry projects worth $20 billion in the near future, a press tv report said.

Iran’s Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said earlier that Iran and Russia have agreed on establishing an oil cartel presiding over more than 40 percent of the world’s oil supply.

Russia’s oil monopoly Gazprom and National Iranian Gas Company agreed on developing the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf, and the creation of a joint venture company with a third country in the next two months.

Nozari added that both sides have also agreed to construct a refinery in northern Iran.

Nozari said that Gazprom prompted the implementation of liquefied natural gas projects in the country.