The offer was made to India’s Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar at the sidelines of the OPEC meeting in Vienna. India had originally wanted the LNG at US$2.40 per mBtu.

According to the Financial Express newspaper, citing anonymous sources close to the action, “Tehran agreed to give ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) on nomination basis a 20% stake in Yadavaran oilfield, which is said to have a potential to produce 300,000 barrels per day, after an operator, most likely a Chinese firm, is selected through international bidding.”

“OVL was to compete with multinational giants like Total and Petronas of Malaysia for getting a 51% stake in Yadavaran oilfield, recently renamed from Kush-Hossainieh, but Iran said it would give OVL 20% stake from National Iranian Oil Co’s (NIOC) 49% stake after the bidding round concludes,” added the insiders.

However, it is understood a deal is yet to be reached between the two nations.