India's Essar Group is in talks with Iran to develop the giant Azadegan oilfield, where a deal with a Japanese firm ended last year, to ensure fuel for a planned refinery and steel plant in the nation, an official said.

Azadegan is Iran's biggest oilfield with in-place reserves of 26 billion barrels. Japan's Inpex Holdings lost control of the field in 2006 but retains a 10 per cent stake.
"December-end or early January we met Iranian authorities ... We are again meeting them later this month or early next month to take forward the issue," said Kharak Singh, head of exploration and production at Essar Oil.
Iran is drawing interest from Indian and Chinese firms, keen to help tap the world's second-largest reserves of oil and gas.
Singh said Essar officials had met National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Managing Director Gholamhossein Nozari and senior officials of Petro Iran Development Company (PIDC) and Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO) during a visit to Iran.
Iran's state-run PIDC took over operatorship of the stalled project from Inpex at the end of last year.
He said Iranian authorities were willing to consider Essar's demand for development rights.
"How much and on what terms and conditions, these are yet to be finalised," Singh said.
He said Essar would also be bidding at an oil and gas assets auction, initiated by Iran.