Iran steps up gas field pressure on foreign firms

Iran plans to replace foreign companies which have "dragged their feet for years" with domestic firms in developing its giant South Pars natural gas field, the oil minister was quoted as saying on Saturday. Massoud Mirkazemi did not name any firms in a report carried by Mehr News Agency. But another official last month said Iran had given Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol one week to decide on their involvement in the offshore field. Iran says both Anglo-Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol have procrastinated on finalizing their involvement in the world's largest reservoir of gas. It has set similar deadlines in the past as a way of pressuring foreign companies, which have become increasingly wary of investing in the Islamic Republic due to a long-running dispute with the West over its nuclear program.