Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem has entered two memorandums of understanding (MoU) with Iran to discuss potential work on oil refineries and gas pipelines.

The agreements were signed as part of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Italy, which saw contracts worth about €17bn ($18.4bn) signed between the two countries.

“The MoU, signed with Parsian Oil & Gas Development Company (POGDC), envisages discussions aimed at Saipem’s potential cooperation in revamping and upgrading the Pars Shiraz and Tabriz refineries,” Saipem said in a statement.

POGDC, according to its website, is a holding company with a portfolio of fertiliser and petrochemicals assets largely located at the Pars Special Economic/Energy Zone (Parsee) in Assaluyeh in the Bushehr province.

The Shiraz refinery in the Fars province has a capacity of 60,000 barrels a day (b/d), while the Tabriz refinery in northwest Iran has a capacity of 110,000 b/d.

In a separate announcement, Saipem said it signed an MoU with National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) to discuss “cooperation in NIGC pipeline projects, including IGAT (Iran gas trunk line) 9 and IGAT-11, which cover 1,800 kilometres”.

NIGC controls downstream gas activities across Iran, including processing plants and pipelines. IGAT-9 is planned to transport gas from the processing hub at Assaluyeh through Iran’s western provinces to the Turkish border.