<article><p class="lead">Russian private-sector oil firm Lukoil said it is ready to return to Iran if and when sanctions restricting foreign investment in the country are lifted.</p><p>Before the US reimposed sanctions on Tehran in 2018, nearly all of Russia's leading oil companies were actively looking to invest in Iran and had signed deals to study field developments. Lukoil had been working on a development plan for the 15.1bn bl Mansouri field in western Iran and had also hoped to secure a licence for the 12.2bn bl Ab Teymour field. </p><p>"We have advanced considerably," Lukoil chief executive Vagit Alekperov said today on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum. "We have all the documents ready ... if restrictions are lifted, we will be glad to resume talks and implementation of the project."</p><p>Alekperov did not say which project, although Lukoil has since clarified that he was referring to the Mansouri field. The terms that Tehran is offering to foreign investors suit Lukoil, Alekperov said, adding that the firm is not looking at any other projects in Iran.</p><p>Lukoil's appetite to invest in Iran's upstream sector comes as it presses ahead with efforts to raise crude production capacity in neighbouring Iraq. <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2219160">The company recently started test output</a> from the Yamama formation of Iraq's giant West Qurna 2 project as part of a plan to double the field's overall capacity to 800,000 b/d by 2025. But it wants to negotiate different terms for production from the Yamama formation that take into account its complex geology, Alekperov said.</p><p>Lukoil is also involved in discussions with Iraq about developing the Eridu oil field, which was discovered in 2017. The company hopes to complete the talks this year. It is eyeing a 30,000 b/d development and will need 18 months to prepare the field for the start of production, Alekperov said.</p><p class="bylines">By Oksana Yablokova</p></article>
