Iran and Russia have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of oil and gas on the sidelines of the 6th Russian Energy Week International Forum.
The signing was formally executed by the head of Iran’s Institute for International Studies and the CEO of Russia’s Roscongress Foundation, Energy News Africa reports.
Both Iran and Russia are grappling with Western sanctions impacting their oil and gas exports, but are trying to join forces to assess potential energy cooperation projects between their nations.
Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Javad Owji, was in Moscow for Russian Energy Week on the invitation of Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak.
During his visit, Owji highlighted the substantial hydrocarbon reserves accessible to both countries and confirmed the signing of MoUs with Russian upstream and downstream companies. Strengthening oil and gas cooperation was a central objective of his visit to Moscow.
This visit comes in the wake of Alexander Novak’s trip to Iran in May, during which he emphasized the advantages of enhanced collaboration between Iran and Russia in the oil and gas sectors. During his visit, Novak explored partnerships with Iranian oil and gas equipment manufacturers and discussed future endeavours with Owji.
Both nations, heavily reliant on revenue generated from their oil and gas sectors, are feeling the squeeze of Western sanctions. Collaborative efforts between the two countries could potentially undermine the effectiveness of these sanctions, which have already faced scrutiny.
China remains a significant purchaser of sanctioned Iranian and Russian crude oil, further illustrating the resilience of both nations’ fossil fuel-derived income streams.
