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LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Maersk Oil, the oil division of Danish group A.P. Moller-Maersk
MAERSKb.CO
said on Thursday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to "explore opportunities for future cooperation".
Maersk said it could not elaborate further. But NIOC Deputy Head for Development and Engineering Gholamreza Manuchehri told Iran's Mehr newsagency the talks concerned the second phase of development of the offshore South Pars field.
South Pars stretches into Qatari waters where the oil-bearing layer is called Al Shaheen and shares the same difficult geological characteristics. Maersk Oil lost its long-standing agreement to operate the 300,000 barrel per day Al Shaheen in June.
(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Greg Mahlich) ((sabina.zawadzki@thomsonreuters.com;))
Maersk said it could not elaborate further. But NIOC Deputy Head for Development and Engineering Gholamreza Manuchehri told Iran's Mehr newsagency the talks concerned the second phase of development of the offshore South Pars field.
South Pars stretches into Qatari waters where the oil-bearing layer is called Al Shaheen and shares the same difficult geological characteristics. Maersk Oil lost its long-standing agreement to operate the 300,000 barrel per day Al Shaheen in June.
(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Greg Mahlich) ((sabina.zawadzki@thomsonreuters.com;))
