China’s Sinopec, Iran sign agreement on developing Yadavaran oilfield

China’s biggest refiner, Sinopec, and Iran have signed a $2 billion agreement on developing the Yadavaran oil field, on Tuesday, firming Beijing’s business links with Tehran despite global sanctions over Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

The long-awaited agreement signed in Tehran completes a 2004 memorandum of understanding for state-owned Sinopec Group to help develop the huge oilfield. Iran’s oil minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, praised the deal as a vindication of his country’s efforts to counter pressures to isolate the country over its nuclear program.

“Various companies are continuing to invest in Iran and that we are witnessing the full presence of foreign investments in the country,” the Iranian radio network Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, quoted Nozari as saying. “The other message this contract has is that if other countries intend to invest in our major oil and gas fields, they should not waste time, otherwise they will surely lose investment opportunities in Iran,” he said. Nozari estimated the cost of the project at $2 billion, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Zhou Baixiu, head of Sinopec’s International Exploration and Production Unit, and Hossein Noqreka-Shirazi, head of international affairs for the Iranian Petroleum Ministry, signed the agreement, the reports said. Sinopec’s publicly traded unit, China Petroleum and Chemical Co., has shares traded in New York, London, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The Chinese company appeared to be seeking to keep the agreement low key. It did not make any official announcement of the deal. China has been snapping up energy resources across the globe as it seeks to ensure supplies of oil and gas to fuel its booming economy.

Beijing has steadfastly balked at U.S. demands for new United Nations sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, arguing for diplomatic solutions to the standoff over whether it is developing atomic weapons. Iranian news reports said the lengthy delay in an agreement on developing Yadavaran was due to commercial issues, not the nuclear controversy. The Yadavaran deal calls for the Chinese company to invest in developing the oilfield in two phases, with the first phase to produce 85,000 barrels per day to be carried out in four years.

The second phase, to produce an additional 100,000 barrels per day, is to be completed in another three years, Xinhua said, citing Nozari. Earlier reports had said the two sides were divided over Sinopec’s request for a 15 percent return from the project and over the planned capacity for the project.

China had argued for a target of 180,000 barrels a day to avoid excess production, according to Chinese state media reports. The Yadavaran field is expected to have a potential output of 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil. It has 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, with recoverable gas reserves estimated at 2.7 trillion cubic feet or 80 billion cubic meters.

Anti-Iran resolutions not affecting Iran-China gas deals

TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Adoption of anti-Iran resolutions by the United Nations Security Council had no influence on gas deals between Iran and China, a senior official at Oil Ministry said on Tuesday.

Deputy Oil Minister Ali Kordan told reporters that there was no indication from the Chinese side for reviewing its previously signed agreements with Iran following the UN's latest anti-Iran resolution. On March 3, the United Nations adopted a third resolution (1803) against Iran for its peaceful nuclear activities under vigorous pressure from Western states, the U.S. in particular.

The council has previously adopted two other resolutions against Iran in December 2006 and March 2007. Iran said that the resolution would have no impact on the country as it lacked legitimacy for ignoring the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on Iran on February 22. The 11-page report verified Tehran's non-diversion from its civilian nuclear program. ""Chinese companies involved in gas deals with Iran, particularly in the North Pars gas field and in production of liquified natural gas (LNG) projects, have not yet signaled to review their previously signed agreements with Iran or being reluctant to continue with their activities in the country,"" he said. Kordan added that Tehran and Beijing have held talks for carrying out joint projects to establish refineries in Iran and Indonesia in the future.

Iran Strikes New Azadegan Oil Find

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has discovered a new oil layer holding a potential 2.2 billion barrels of oil in the Azadegan oil field

National Iranian Oil Company's (NIOC) director for exploration, Mahmoud Mohaddes, said that the new layer was discovered during drilling of the seventh exploration well at the field. Iran is planning to develop another oil layer with a capacity of one billion barrels, which had been previously discovered in the Azadegan oilfield, he added. The Azadegan oilfield, which is located 80 kilometers west of the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz in oil-rich Khuzestan Province, has proven oil reserves of 33 billion barrels, with good prospects for additional capacity, taking the total to 40 billion barrels.

The field is being developed by the PetroIran Development Company, a subsidiary of NIOC. Russia's Lukoil and India's Reliance Industries are currently in talks to buy stakes in the field. Lukoil entered talks after the collapse of a previous bid to develop the field by a joint venture of Japan's Inpex and the state-run oil firm in October 2006. Reliance is thought to have started negotiations in late 2007.

Iran loses patience with Shell's indecision

Shell has been warned by Iran that it must commit itself to developing a $10bn (£5bn) gas field in the turbulent Middle East country by June or risk the project being handed over to a rival.
Europe's largest oil and gas company has delayed making a final decision on the grounds of soaring costs but also in the knowledge that a decisive move would put it in political conflict with Washington at a time of mounting tension over Tehran's uranium enrichment programme.
Shell's British competitor, BP, said three years ago that it would not pursue business in Iran, claiming it was politically "not a flyer".

Iran's oil minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, has been losing patience with Shell - and Total of France - over deals to develop phases 11 and 13 of the huge South Pars field, and this week issued an ultimatum.

"The deadline we have given to Total and Shell is June and it is the last chance we are giving them," Nozari said, adding that Tehran "will definitely make the final decision" after the deadline.

Officials in Iran said negotiations with a number of Asian companies had already started and that they were likely to replace Shell and Total if the two continued to prevaricate. There has already been speculation that Gazprom of Russia is keen to muscle in on the deal, while Sinopec of China has signed a $2bn contract to develop the Yadavaran oilfield.

Jeroen van der Veer, the chief executive of Shell, was expected to meet Nozari on the sidelines of an International Energy Forum meeting, which both were attending in Rome yesterday. "We will be discussing some projects with some companies," Nozari said.

Shell was unavailable for comment last night but has said previously that it would not decide until the end of this year due to the difficult investment environment, where construction costs and the falling dollar were causing havoc with planning.

The group has refused to discuss the backlash any such move might produce in Washington. President George Bush is putting pressure on companies not to do business with Iran because of its nuclear programme, which has brought relations between Washington and Tehran to a new low. The two sides have also been trading insults over US allegations that Iran is supporting insurgents in Iraq.

Shell had been hoping that a change in the US presidency would open the way for oil companies to pursue a deeper involvement in Iran. However, relations between the Tehran government and Shell and Total are getting worse.

In February, Total's boss, Christophe de Margerie, said: "We have not burnt our bridges with Iran. We will find solutions to maintain our long-term presence."

Iran to Shell: Move it or lose it

Iran told Shell it must commit itself to developing a $10 billion (£5 billion) gas field in the country by June or risk the project going to a rival.

The Guardian reported Europe’s largest oil and gas company has delayed making a final decision on the grounds of soaring costs but also in the knowledge that a decisive move would put it in political conflict with Washington at a time of mounting tension over Tehran’s uranium enrichment program.

Shell’s British competitor, BP, said three years ago it would not pursue business in Iran.
Iran’s oil minister has been losing patience with Shell and Total of France over deals to develop phases 11 and 13 of the huge South Pars field, and this week issued an ultimatum.

Negotiations with a number of Asian companies have already started, and they are likely to replace Shell and Total if the two continue to prevaricate.

There has already been speculation that Gazprom of Russia is keen to muscle in on the deal, while Sinopec of China has signed a $2 billion contract to develop the Yadavaran oilfield.

Swiss foreign minister to sign Iran gas deal

GENEVA, March 16 (Reuters) - Switzerland's foreign minister was travelling to Tehran on Sunday to sign a natural gas purchase contract between Iran and a Swiss utility, a deal she said could help ease Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

Micheline Calmy-Rey would also meet Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and other officials to discuss Iran's human rights record and ongoing international concerns about the country's nuclear programme.

The gas deal between Elektrizitaetsgesellschaft Laufenburg (EGL) (EGL.S: Quote, Profile, Research) and the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) does not violate United Nations or U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran, Calmy-Rey said.

"This contract does not violate any of the sanctions," she told journalists before her departure at Geneva airport.

"It is planned that natural gas from Iran together with natural gas from Azerbaijan will one day feed into a gas pipeline running from Greece via Albania to Italy," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement.

EGL said last year it had completed a 25-year deal with NIGEC to deliver 5.5 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe through a pipeline scheduled to be complete in 2010.
The energy group at the time declined to disclose the value of the deal, but said it was above 10 billion euros ($13.32 billion) and below 22 billion euros, depending on a number of factors such as the price of energy.

Calmy-Rey said she had been invited by Iran to visit and sign the deal. She said it was in Switzerland's strategic interest to diversify its source of energy supplies.

"We decrease our dependence, and the dependence of Europe, on Russian gas," she said.
Switzerland has worked in the past to find a compromise in Iran's nuclear dispute with the West.
Washington has led international efforts to penalise Iran for failing to allay suspicions that it is seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is purely civilian. (Reporting by Laura MacInnis in Geneva and Douwe Miedema in Zurich; Editing by Charles Dick)

Iran discovers 2.2b barrel oil layer

A senior Iranian oil official says a new oil layer with a capacity of 2.2 billion barrels has been discovered in the Azadegan oil-field.

"The new layer was discovered when the seventh exploration well was drilled in the Azadegan oil-field," Fars News Agency quoted Mahmoud Mohaddes, the National Iranian Oil Company's director for exploration, as saying.

Iran is planning to develop another oil layer with a capacity of one billion barrels, which had been previously discovered in the Azadegan oil-field, he added.

The Azadegan oil-field, which is located 80 kilometers west of the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz in oil-rich Khuzestan province, has proven oil reserves of 33 billion barrels, with good prospects for additional capacity, taking the total to 40 billion barrels. The field is being developed by the PetroIran Development Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) after Iran's partnership with the Japanese firm Inpex came apart in 2006.

Huge gas reserve explored in southern Iran

TEHRAN (PIN) – Drilling operations of an exploration well resulted in discovery of a huge gas

reserve in the vicinity of Haftkal, a town northeast of Khuzestan Province, southern Iran.
According to the news headquarters of the 5th Drilling Industry Exposition, the reserve is 28km long and 5km wide. The onshore operations manager of National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) said a well with a 2,500 meter depth had been drilled in the region in the pre-revolution era, but the well, due to some problems and rigidity of layers, had been deserted.

Mehran Makvandi added the Fat’h Derrick 65 was installed and helped the drilling depth rise from the previous 700 to 4,380 meters. The NIDC official said the Exploration Department of National Iranian Oil Company was conducting complementary studies on the gas deposit and possible in situ oil of the field. He said two more wells would be drilled in the near future in an attempt to get further data about the reserve, adding the NIOC would offer its master development plan (MDP) through data gathered from the three wells. “This is the second reserve in Khuzestan Province that has been discovered with the help of Fat’h Derrick,” said Makvandi, adding Paranj filed had been already explored in the vicinity of Kerenj and Parsi fields in Aghajari. Director of NIOC’s Exploration Department said Paranj oilfield is located between Kerenj and Parsi fields.

“After 3-D seismological studies were carried out on Kerenj and Parsi fields and the resultant data was explained, the Exploration Dept. reached the conclusion that the field can be appraised as an independent exploration goal,” Mahmud Mohaddes added. He said explorative drilling on Asmari horizon of Paranj field started in December 2005 and finished in four months, adding the field’s reserves were announced at 600 million to one billion barrels of crude oil in April 2006. The official added since Paranj field was close to installations related to Parsi and Kerenj fields, production from the field started rapidly. “Current production by Paranj field is about 7,000 barrels per day and its output can be increased to 40,000-50,000 barrels per day.”

Iran-Japan trade reaches dlrs 14 billion

Iran-Japan-Trade Trade between Iran and Japan rose up to dlrs 14 billion in 2007, Japanese Finance Ministry reported.

Trade between the two countries had exceeded dlrs 12 billion in 2006 and it enjoyed a significant growth in 2007, IRNA said quoting Japanese Finance Ministry.

Iran's share of the total daily imports of crude oil to Japan had a 0.64 percent rise in 2007 compared with that of 2006.

According to the statistics, Iran has been the third rank supplier of crude oil to Japan.
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are the first and second countries exporting oil to Japan respectively.

The average volume of daily crude oil export to Japan has enjoyed 16,000 barrels increase in 2007 compared with 2006.

IRNA reporter in Tokyo said that in light of the Iran-Japan excellent political and economic ties, Japan can trust Iran as major crude oil supplier for its energy security would it play more active role in Iranian oil fields.

Iran pumping oil from Azadegan

Iran has begun oil production from Azadegan, one of the world's largest onshore oil fields, a senior Iranian Oil Ministry official says. "Currently, 20,000 barrels of light and heavy oils are being produced per day from the field," Seifollah Jashnsaz, managing director of the National Iranian South Oil Company, stated. Located 80 km west of the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz in oil-rich Khuzestan province, Azadegan has proven oil reserves of 33 billion barrels and the capacity is forecast to increase to 40 billion barrels. The field is being developed by Petroiran Development Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company after Iran's partnership with Japanese firm Inpex collapsed in 2006. Iran, the world's fourth oil producer, aims to increase its output from the current over four million barrels per day (bpd) to 5.6 million bpd in seven years.

Oil bourse opens in Iran's Kish Island

Iran's oil bourse will pave the way for the country's more active presence in international crude transactions, oil minister says. Although Iran's oil resources were discovered more than a hundred years ago, its oil sector has so far played only a minor role in international oil markets, IRNA reported Gholam-Hossein Nozari as saying. Speaking at the opening ceremony of Iran's oil and petrochemical bourse in Kish Island, Nozari pointed out that it was important for Iran to play a more active role in oil and petrochemical transactions in international markets. "All major currencies of the world will be used in transactions in Iran's oil bourse," he added.

He pointed out that Iran has produced a total of some 63 billion barrels of crude oil over the past hundred years. He put the volume of natural gas produced in the same period at about 3 trillion cubic meters, noting that while part of it was being used for domestic consumption, a significant part is being converted into petrochemical products.

Referring to potential transactions in oil products through the oil bourse, the Oil Minister said, “Our annual petrochemical output currently stands at 20 million tons, which is expected to reach 23 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, with good prospects of increasing it to some 45 million tons by the end of next year.”

Iran's oil and petrochemical bourse officially started operation in Kish Island on the Persian Gulf following inauguration speeches given by Nozari and Iran's Minister of Financial an Economic Affair, Davoud Danesh Ja'fari.

Project for early production from Azadegan field ready

Managing Director of National South Oil Regions Company Seyfollah Jashnsaz said here Wednesday that the first phase of the project for early production from giant Azadegan oil field, 62 kms west of Ahvaz, is ready for operation.

Jashnsaz told IRNA that the phase will be operational in the presence of oil minister on February 9 with a daily output of 25,000 bpd crude.

He said the project has been implemented fully by Iranian experts.
He added that six wells have been in operation and 350 kms of pipelines --in different sizes-- have been laid down for operation of the phase.

The official said the project has been handled fully by Iranian experts as the Japanese company, INPEX, declined to invest in the huge project under the US pressure.
The Japanese party's share in the project hence decreased to 10 percent from 90 percent, he added.

The official said operation of the project is a manifestation of the expertise of Iranian technicians and engineers.

Azadegan oil field is estimated to contain 33 billion barrels of crude.

ISNA

Iran supplies 13 percent of China's crude oil

Iran's Ambassador to Beijing Javad Mansouri said on Tuesday that Iran supplies 13 percent of China's crude oil.

Mansouri made the remarks during a visit to the offices of the economic weekly 'China Times' on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Weekly staffers, he said the current level of economic cooperation between Iran and China is satisfactory and Iran is among the energy suppliers of China.

According to the latest statistics, the volume of trade exchanges between Iran and China exceeded dlrs 20 billion in 2007 and there are huge untapped economic grounds which should be further explored.

Iran attaches importance to expansion of ties with the East, he said adding that Iran and China are to broaden and bolster mutual economic and political cooperation at the international level.

Given the impact of Islamic Revolution in regional and international developments, he said it is crystal clear for all countries that the Islamic Republic of Iran has high spiritual and political influence in the region.

Turning to cultural exchanges between the two nations, he said despite of difference in language, the two nations have deep-rooted cultural ties.

Referring to political and economic pressures exerted by the United States of America against Iran, he said the US is on a downward slope quoting the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong who likened the US to a paper tiger.

IRNA

Iran, Malaysia sign gas contract

Iran and Malaysia have struck a 1.2-billion-euro deal to build natural gas liquids (NGL) facilities on Iran's southern Kharg Island.

A consortium of Malaysian companies signed the agreement under finance mode with the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company, the owner of the project, in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The project would gather 600 million cubic feet of the associated gas from Abouzar, Bahregansar, Doroud, Forouzan, Kharg and Soroush fields per day. As the US is exerting pressures on European firms to cut back business with Iran, Asian companies are keen on investing in the resource-rich Middle Eastern country, sitting on the world's largest gas reserves after Russia.

The two Muslim nations signed a 16-billion-dollar deal in late December to develop Iranian gas fields and build liquefied natural gas plants there. MK/RE

About Ahwaz oil and gas news

Ahwaz has %15-20 of the world reserves oil and it is occupied by the Persian. Up to %90 of Iranian revenue coming from selling oil of Ahwaz. Ahwazi people are poor and not benefited at all from these resources in their land. We try to keep record of discovery, sell, environment catastrophic and other related subject to oil of Ahwaz.