Iran wants to develop shared oil fields with Iraq

TEHRAN (Reuters) –
Iran wants to develop previously untapped oil fields shared with neighboring
Iraq, a move that will benefit the two countries which fought a war in the 1980s, an Iranian oil official said on Saturday.

“We hope to start working together. Both countries stand to gain. We would strengthen investment and make the best use of our shared fields,” Gholamhossein Nozari, managing director of state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), told reporters.

Iran and Iraq have been strengthening ties since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, arousing concern among Iraq’s once dominant Sunni minority and other Arab states as well as in the United States.

Washington accuses Iran of stirring up violence in Iraq. Tehran blames the presence of U.S. troops for the unrest.

“There is a general agreement between us (on the fields),” Nozari said, adding that the two countries had already held two rounds of discussion on developing the fields.

Reuters