Russia, Iran set to pursue cooperation in oil area

Russia's Energy Minister Igor Yusufov, who is on a visit to the Iranian capital, and Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh stressed the importance of expanding cooperation in the oil area.

The Russian minister announced on Wednesday, "at the meeting that occurred with Zanganeh, prospects of interaction between Russian companies and Iranian ones were reviewed." The Energy Minister went on to note that "the goal of [his] visit to the Islamic Republic is establishing cooperation on issues of oil prices stability and of the production of that fossil fuel." "Before stability is established in the prices and production of oil, it is necessary that the region's countries come to an understanding on these issues," Yusufov underscored.

Zanganeh for his part announced that in addition to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' pricing and production policies, the talks had addressed issues of expanding bilateral ties.

"Issues were also discussed of continuing cooperation between natural gas exporting countries [and] the Russian-Iranian cooperation in the implementation of joint projects at the Southern Pars oil field," Iran's Petroleum Minister added.