Japanese and Iranian developers failed to reach an agreement on tapping Iran's giant Azadegan oil field by the Tehran-set deadline on Saturday but the talks will continue until Monday, a news agency run by the Iranian Oil Ministry reported.
The talks have met difficulty over the amounts of additional investment to be made on the project while the Japanese government does not reportedly hope to see it launched before seeing the outcome of issues related to Iran's nuclear programs, the report said.
The Azadegan oil field is one of the world's largest, with estimated crude oil reserves amounting to 26 billion barrels.
Iran's developer, the National Petroleum and Gas Co., had warned that if the Japanese side failed to begin work by the deadline, the $US2 billion contract would be canceled, the report said.
Japanese government-linked Inpex Corp, which signed the contract with the National Iranian Oil Co in February 2004, has yet to start developing the oil field in southwestern Iran, citing a delay in Iranian demining work.
The Iranian developer is an affiliate of the national oil company and in charge of negotiations with Inpex.
The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for a halt to its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities for possible development of nuclear weapons.
In August, Iran warned Japan of the possibility that it may seek joint development of the oil field with Russia or China if Inpex failed to begin work by mid-September. The previous deadline was September 15.
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