IRAN MAY PARTICIPATE IN AZERI OIL PROJECT.

Baku has notifiedTehran that it would consider Iranian participation in the developmentof Shah-Deniz oil field, Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR)president Natik Aliev told the International Petroleum AgencyAugust 15. SOCAR is prepared to cede a part of its 40 percentstake to Iran by agreement with the other partners in the Shah-Denizproject: British Petroleum, Norway’s Statoil, and Turkey’s TRAO.The field’s recoverable reserves are estimated at 230 milliontons of oil and 650 billion cubic meters of gas. The offer seemsto signal a bid for improving relations after Baku had, at USinsistence, reversed its own earlier decision and blocked Iran’sparticipation in the "deal of the century" internationalproject for the development of three other Azeri oil fields.

US Company Acquires Stake in Maykop Gas Field.