TEHRAN, Sep. 26 (MNA) – Tehran Municipality and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to control air pollution in the Iranian capital.
Vahid Hosseini, Managing Director of Tehran Air Quality Control Company, made the announcement explaining that the cooperation agreement aimed at boosting collaboration on scientific, educational and equipment sectors to contain the capital’s air pollution for a period of four years.
He noted that the deal would be implemented by Tehran Air Quality Control Company as a subsidiary of Tehran Municipality as well as JICA who represent the Japanese side.
The official recalled that JICA has carried out various environmental projects in developing countries like Iran one instance being the attempt to revive Lake Urmia.
“The present agreement was developed over two years,” highlighted Hosseini asserting that “accordingly, Iranian and Japanese experts will seek to resolve the challenge by initially identifying primary sources of pollution and then taking steps to eliminate them.
The official later explained that the Iranian side will pay nothing for the project while the Japanese government will pay seven million dollars to JICA in exchange for nothing.
He later pointed to transfer of equipment and know-how to Iran saying “government of Japan has approved of supplying equipment to Iran and air analysis equipment worth 13 million dollars will arrive under a separate deal between Tehran Municipality and the Japanese government.”
Also at the MoU-signing ceremony, President of JICA office in Iran, Yukiharu Kobayashi, said “under terms of the agreement, Japanese experts will provide Iranian experts with knowledge and experience on reducing air pollution.”
In recent years, Air pollution has tuned into a major challenge to the Iranian government who has used various strategies to curb the challenge like implementing odd-even scheme under which cars with license plates ending in odd numbers will be kept indoors and vice versa.
Nevertheless, these measures were not enough to tackle the issue and the country has decided to form a deal with a foreign company to resolve the problem.
HA/IRN82677182
TEHRAN, Sep. 26 (MNA) – A 30-strong delegation of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has landed in Madrid, Spain.
The Iranian delegation is being led by ICCIMA Head Gholamhossein Shafei and comprises private sector activists in areas of agriculture, food industries, tourism, banking, mine, petrochemical, construction and renewable energies.
In the visit to the European country, Shafei is being accompanied by Mohammadreza Karbasi, ICCIMA Deputy Head, as well as head of president of Iran-Spain Joint Chamber of Commerce.
ICCIMA Head Shafei is slated to attend meetings with trade authorities of Spain including Jaime García-Legaz, Head of State Institute of Granting Financial Credits in Spain Foreign Trade, and Director General of Spanish Finance Ministry’s Commercial International Investors, Joss Luis Kaiser.
The Iranian delegation was warmly received by Spanish companies and agreements are expected to be inked to provide grounds for reinvigoration of joint cooperation between the two sides.
Iran-Spain bilateral trade stood at over $1.4 billion in 2016 with Iranian exports accounting for around $999 million of the sum. Crude oil made up close to $800 million of Iran’s exports to Spain over the period.
HA/IRN82669658
TEHRAN, Sep. 26 (MNA) – The Spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry Bahram Ghasemi says all obstacles on the payments of Iranian export of petrochemical products to China has been removed.
In response to a question about the payment problems for Chinese government regarding Iranian exported petrochemical products, Bahram Ghasemi said on Tuesday that there were issues after the change of banking regulations in China, however, some procrastination and slowness in our own banking system exacerbated the situation.
Iranian delegations conducted some robust negotiations with the Chinese and the problems have been relatively solved, and there should be no serious problem in cashing the sold pet-chem products to China,” recounted the Iranian diplomat.
“Attracting foreign investment is of prime importance and seriously followed by the 12th administration,” reassured the Iranian diplomat recounting one of the top priorities in the agenda of the 12th administration, “the foreign ministry has done adequate planning for marketing and Iran’s economy, and I think that we will take more steps in this path soon.”
The Iranian diplomat noted that the foreign ministry will support Iranian expatriates, firms, institutes and foreign governments for attracting more foreign investment.
YNG/4097650
TEHRAN, Sep. 26 (MNA) – Iranian oil tanker fleet have succeeded in receiving two new international certificates including ISO9001:2015 and ISO14001:2015.
As a result of cruel international sanctions, the process of issuing expert and international certificates had stopped for Iranian tankers who were consequently banned from entering major European ports.
Nevertheless, all sanction-related restrictions were alleviated once the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was implemented.
National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) fleet is now able to commute in Europe, Mediterranean Sea, South Korea, China, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, UAE, Libya, Algeria, Turkey and also some Latin America countries.
Norwegian Company DNV GL, upon reviewing qualification of National Iranian Tanker Company, approved its quality and the environment aspects.
DNV GL is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered near Oslo, Norway.
National Iranian Tanker Company was awarded with ISO9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certificates.
NITC currently has about 13,550 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides services for several industries, including maritime, renewable energy, oil & gas, electrification, food & beverage and healthcare.
HA/IRN82677061
TEHRAN, Sep. 26 (MNA) – Iran commercial attaché in Baghdad, Naser Behzad, stated that value of Iran’s exports to Iraq had stood at over three billion dollars in the first six months of the current Iranian year (began March 21).
Behzad made the remarks on Tuesday morning explaining that Iraq was the second destination for Iranian products.
He went on to underline that Iraqis had imported goods from Iran worth two billion dollars in the first four months of the ongoing Iranian calendar year to become the second largest buyer of Iranian products.
The 8-percent rise in exports to Iraq pertained to shipment of goods like agricultural products, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical devises as well as pharmaceuticals, he continued.
“Other major items being deployed to the Iraqi market include pasta, flour, dairy products, petrochemical products as well as industrial lubricants.”
Behzad, while pointing to the 44th Session of Baghdad International Fair to be held in October, said the event was an excellent opportunity for introducing Iranian companies and their products.
He reiterated that countries like Germany, USA, Iran, Korea, Ukraine, Qatar, France, Lebanon and Syria will take part in Baghdad exhibition asserting “directors of the Iranian companies can conduct negotiations with their Iraqi counterparts as well as firms from other countries in a bid to expand bilateral cooperation.
He emphasized that Iran was determined to make a strong presence in the upcoming event.
Behzad said Iraq annually imported products worth 30 billion dollars from different countries; “Iran’s share of the Iraqi imports, stands at 24 percent which puts the country in third place of exporters to Iraq after China and Turkey.”
If Iran adds technical and engineering services and gas condensate to its exports to Iraq, its share in the markets of the neighboring country will be equal to that of Turkey.
For the first time ever, Iran has started exporting daily 12 million cubic meters of natural gas to Iraq for the present year.
Per capita price per ton of Iranian exports to Iraq is $500, which represents a higher value than per capita of Iran’s overall exports which stand at 350 dollars.
HA/IRN82677413
TEHRAN, Sep. 26 (MNA) – Iranian Datis Khodro Co. will soon join the automobile manufacturers, thanks to the efforts made by the officials of the company
Following the historic nuclear deal and the implementation of JCPOA, joint agreements between foreign car manufacturers and Iranian partners opened a new chapter in the automotive industry; automakers returned home full-handed, from France, to produce joint cars in Iran.
Datis Khodro, as one of the largest privately owned complex, is announcing a joint venture with a leading automotive manufacturer in the near future.
Milad Alinaghi, CEO of Datis Khodro, who had previously started his work providing specialized repair services to hybrid vehicles in Iran, while stressing that the protection of the environment and reducing air pollutants, especially in metropolitan areas, are among the priorities of Datis, added “for the realization of a clean and non-pollutant city, Datis Khodro has put among its priorities the development of clean transportation and providing service infrastructure to make using hybrid vehicles easier for the people and governmental agencies.”
To this end, the company is scheduled to provide hybrid and electric motorcycles, with the highest possible quality as part of Datis Khodro’s road map for the development of clean transportation in the country.
Alinaghi, who holds the exclusive representative of Heico Sportiv cars in Iran, announced that the world’s leading complex is going to take a huge step and begin joint car production in Iran.
He added that Datis team, importing CBU cars to Iran in the first step and with the priority to provide standard after-sales services to the imported cars, opened a new chapter in the market of foreign cars in the country. Subsequently, Datis Co., with holding exclusive representative of Heico Sportiv cars in Iran and offering extensive after-sale services for Volvo automobiles, paved the way for the arrival of the latest models of Volvo in Iran with proper guarantee and services.
CEO of Datis Khodro, underlining the remarks of Leader of Islamic Revolution on employment and domestic production in the country, announced the third step of the company to further boost Iran’s automobile market, is to develop a production line and assembly of one of the key brands of the world.
Alinaghi noted that the final step for the sign of a joint venture agreement with one of the world's leading car makers is ongoing and Datis will enter the market from the first half of next year, to produce automobiles inside the country.
He announced the fourth step of the company to maintain in the country's car market, is to advantage of joint ventures between Datis Khodro Co. and its foreign partner, adding that the next phase of automobile production in the country will be developed through joint ventures, and the products inside Iran will be available in regional markets as the company’s exports.
Pointing out that the agreement for joint venture is in final stages, Alinaghi said the details of cooperation and co-products will be announced in the near future.
LR/4097539
TEHRAN, Sep. 26 (MNA) – Secretary of High Council of Free Trade-Industrial Zones said value of exports from Iranian Free Trade Zones (FTZs) have climbed by 25 percent reaching one billion dollars.
Morteza Bank, President’s Adviser on the issues related to the Free Trade, Industry, and Economy Zones, rejoiced to say that “exports from Free Trade Zones have soared by 25% as compared to the previous year and reached one million dollars in worth.”
“The incumbent government pursues the policy to attract domestic and foreign investment, improve investment conditions, create and expand industries and trade transactions,” highlighted the official explaining that the government attached great importance to FTZs.
He noted that FTZs had made satisfactory and appropriate growth in terms of exports expressing hope that the zones become more active with attraction of more finance.
Morteza Bank rejected the claims that goods are smuggled through FTZs underlining that the issue had been raised by certain media; “no smuggling is done through these regions thanks to the cooperation between Iran Customs Administration and Free Trade Zones.”
At the end of his remarks, the official said investment was growing in the Iranian FTZs.
HA/4098051
TEHRAN, Sep. 25 (MNA) – Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperove said on Saturday that the company plans to maintain their level of production with projects in other countries such as Iran and Mexico, Reuters reports.
The Russian company plans to keep pumping 100 million tons of oil per year between 2018 and 2027 and will keep annual investment at 8 billion to 8.5 billion dollars.
As Russia’a No.2 oil producer, Lukoil who output has been less than Western Siberia field, has managed to keep production steady by concentrating on growth in new regions such as the Caspian Sea, Iraq and is also considering Iran and Mexico.
Lukoil Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov announced details of company’s 2018-2027 strategy to reporters at the launch of the firm’s gas facilities in Uzbekistan. He said details would be discussed by the board in December.
The 2018-2020 budget would be based on an oil price of $50 per barrel said Alekperov, who is also a major Lukoil shareholder.
Regarding other projects, Alekperov said he would meet Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh in Moscow on Oct. 3.
Tehran has said earlier it expected to sign deals in the next five to six months with Russian firms, such as Lukoil, on developing Iranian oil and gas resources.
Lukoil has been in talks with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on taking part in development of the Abe Timur and Mansuri fields in central-western Iran.
“We are very close, we have some disagreements which are not crucial, regarding output volumes and the pace of coming to any given levels,” Alekperov said, adding he was confident the differences could be resolved.
ZG/4096729
Tehran (ISNA) - Iran announced it is preparing to increase its exports of crude oil to global markets beyond the current volume of 2.2 million barrels per day, saying it would be carried out as a new type of Iranian crude is presented to clients.
The director for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Saeed Khoshrou said that the new type of the Iranian oil would be named West Karoun which he said would be in the ultra-heavy category.
“The NIOC had started supplying a new type of heavy crude, named Kourosh, to global markets since a few months ago,” Khoshrou emphasized.
The official said Iran still had a huge potential to further increase its oil production, specifically given that a majority of onshore reserves still remained untapped.
“Around 70 percent of Iran’s oil reserves are located in offshore reservoirs in the Persian Gulf,” Khoshrou told the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Singapore.
“Nevertheless, the country still has a significant potential for discovering new hydrocarbon reserves and producing oil and gas from them”.
On the same front, the official said that the NIOC had defined 52 projects of which around 30 would be the development of oil fields and the rest would be gas fields.
He said Iran’s oil projects were specifically attractive for foreign investors given the low operational costs for producing oil which stood at an average of below $10 per barrel.
Khoshrou said Iran was determined to maintain a sustained increase in its oil production capacity.
Still, he added that it would take the country some time before it can attain the production levels that existed before the imposition of the US-led sanctions in 2011.
End Item
Tehran (ISNA) - Lukoil Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov said he would meet Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Moscow on October 3.
Tehran has said it expects to sign deals in the next five to six months with Russian firms, such as Lukoil, on developing Iranian oil and gas resources.
Lukoil has been in talks with the National Iranian Oil Company on taking part in the development of Ab-Teymour and Mansouri fields in central-western Iran.
“We are very close; we have some disagreements that are not crucial, regarding output volumes and the pace of coming to any given levels,” Alekperov said, adding he was confident the differences could be resolved.
Lukoil plans to keep pumping 100 million tons of oil per year between 2018 and 2027 with projects outside Russia, including potential investments in Iranian oilfields, to keep annual investment at $8-8.5 billion, the chief executive also said.
Lukoil, Russia’s No. 2 oil producer that has suffered from sluggish output from its Western Siberia fields, has kept production steady by focusing on growth in new regions, such as the Caspian Sea and Iraq. It is also looking at Iran and Mexico, Reuters reported.
End Item
Tehran (ISNA) - Bpifrance, the country’s state investment bank, will finance investment projects of French companies in Iran from 2018, granting up to 500 million euros ($598 million) in annual credits, its CEO announced.
"Excluding a force majeure case, we will be on their side in early 2018. We are the only French bank that can do it without risking U.S. sanctions for a possible breach of remaining embargo rules," the Bpifrance’s CEO Nicolas Dufourcq told Le Journal du Dimanche.
The deal Iran struck in 2015 with six major powers lifted many sanctions against the country in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities and paved the way for international business deals.
But many banks have stayed away for fear of inadvertently breaking remaining U.S. sanctions, which could lead to huge fines.
Because the BPI has no operations abroad, notably in the United States, it is not exposed to possible fines for U.S. sanctions breaches.
U.S. President Donald Trump has created new uncertainties over the U.S. stance towards the Iran nuclear agreement. Trump told reporters this week that he had made a decision on what to do about the agreement but would not say what he had decided.
Several Franco-Iranian deals were announced during Iran President Hassan Rouhani's official visit to Paris in January last year. These included a joint venture between carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Iran Khodro as well as plans for Iran to buy Airbus aircraft to update its ageing fleet.
There were also deals in the oil, shipping, health, agriculture and water sectors.
End Item
Tehran (ISNA) - During weekdays ending up to September 21, while 576,986 MT of commodities worth over 290 million USD were traded in Iran Mercantile Exchange, trading volume experienced a growth of 14%.
According to the report from IME International Affairs and PR, last week, on the domestic and export metal and mineral trading floor of IME, 139,057 MT of various products worth close to 117.4 million USD were traded.
On this trading floor, 130,827 MT of steel products, 600 MT of aluminum, 5,490 MT of copper, 140 MT of molybdenum concentrates, 2,000 MT of coke as well as 2 kg of gold bullion were traded.
The report declares that on domestic and export oil and petrochemical trading floors of IME, 376,864 MT of different commodities with the total value of 151 million USD were traded.
On this trading floor, more than 168,954 MT of bitumen, 48,537 MT of polymer products, 110,000 MT of VB feed stock as well as 19,000 MT of lube-cut oil, 18,909 MT of chemical products, 6,740 MT of sulfur, 2,050 MT of slaps waxes, 552 MT of base oil and slack waxes and 2,122 MT of insulation were traded.
Moreover, on the agricultural trading floor of IME, 54,884 MT of various commodities worth over 19 million USD were traded. On this trading floor, 1,600 MT of feed barley, 43,000 MT of wheat, 10,125 MT of sugar, 159,000 day oil chicks as well as 4 kg of saffron threads were traded by customers.
It is worth noting that during the third week of September, the side market of IME witnessed trading of 3,500 MT of liquid nitrogen fertilizer, 980 MT of HRS with thickness 2, alongside 700 MT of potash (potassium chloride), 400 MT of metal scrap, 200 MT of raw milk, 175 MT of phosphate concentrate, 140 MT of powdered milk, 60 MT of polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, 22 MT of used locomotive engine oil, as well as 4 MT of worn wooden sleepers.
End Item
Tehran (ISNA) - Specialist renewable energy investor Quercus will invest over half a billion euros in a solar power project in Iran, with construction to start in the first half of 2018, the company’s chief executive told Reuters.
The planned 600-megawatt (MW) plant, located in central Iran, will be the sixth largest globally, behind projects of up to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) in China and India.
Diego Biasi, chief executive of Quercus, which has a track record of investing in renewable energy in Europe, told Reuters the firm had decided to go for such a big project to get an endorsement from Iran’s ministry of energy.
“This is a project of national interest, so we got special support. We had enough investors interested so instead of splitting that across smaller projects which wouldn’t have given us the same relationship with the Ministry, we decided to go for one,” he said in a phone interview on Tuesday. The hope was this would lead to more solar projects.
Established in 2010, independently-owned Quercus has a portfolio of around 40 renewable energy plants across Europe. The Iran project is its first investment outside Europe, and came in response to client demand, Biasi said.
Under the terms of the agreement signed by Quercus and Iran’s ministry of energy, the firm will be responsible for the construction, development and operation of the plant.
Construction is expected to take three years, with each 100 MW standalone lot becoming operational and connecting to the grid every six months, to mitigate the risk for investors.
Rather than investing via a fund structure, Quercus will set up a project company and investors will hold shares via a private placement. It has already attracted interest from private and institutional investors, including sovereign funds.
Iran is heavily reliant on natural gas and oil to generate power, but air pollution is driving interest in renewables and Iran has made a commitment to develop 5 GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2020.
Iran’s installed solar energy capacity is currently 53 MW, according to Iranian energy ministry data, but 76 firms have signed deals to study building an extra 932 MW of capacity. Interest has grown since the lifting of international sanctions on Iran in 2016.
“The market is becoming more active on the permit side but on the construction side it hasn’t opened up yet. After this project we think there will be increasing interest from foreign investors,” Biasi said, adding interest was already quite strong.
The project will benefit from bilateral investment treaties that ensure foreign investors are treated the same as local ones. Biasi said there was also a guarantee in the contract with the Ministry of Energy that the electricity would be paid for.
End Item
Tehran (ISNA) - The Hong Kong branch of Melli Bank London PLC, a subsidiary of Bank Melli Iran, has officially restarted its operations, the chief executive of BMI announced.
“One of the measures that had to be undertaken to remove hurdles on the way of restarting the activities of the Hong Kong branch was selecting and introducing an independent credit institution to draft a thorough report on the branch’s preparedness,” Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh was quoted as saying by the official website of BMI.
According to the CEO of Iran’s biggest bank, the multinational EY (Ernst & Young) was chosen and introduced to the regulatory entities of Hong Kong.
Headquartered in London, EY is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the “Big Four” accounting firms that provides assurance, tax, consultancy and advisory services to companies.
For the Hong Kong branch to get the green light, it had to adhere to regulations and guidelines notified by EY to get the firm’s approval. Once it complied, it sent the results to the supervisory entity to prove that it has abided by international standards.
“The Hong Kong supervisory entity in turn validated the final report of EY and authorized the Melli Bank PLC branch to offer banking services,” Hosseinzadeh said.
As the official notes, the Hong Kong branch announced the authorization and its commencement of operations on its website on September 15.
“Bank Melli is pleased to announce that its Hong Kong branch is now in a position to offer a wide range of trade-related services to its customers,” reads the aforementioned statement.
The lender also promises to “add value to Iran’s trade ties with China and its fast expanding neighboring economies and the promising prospects of the establishment of the Belt and Road Initiative”.
End Item
By editor on in Uncategorised
By Holly Dagres, for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iran Business News.
Imagine trying to hail an Uber on a street corner only for the Uber app on your iPhone to suddenly stop working. That’s what happened to some Iranians when Apple pulled Snapp, a popular local ride-hailing app, from its App Store on Aug. 24.
The US technology company purged over a dozen popular Iranian apps, including Alopeyk, an on-demand delivery service; Delion, a food delivery service; Digikala, an online store; Takhfifan, a coupon service; and Zoraq, a travel-booking service.
Now when the name of a popular Iranian app is typed into Apple’s App Store search engine, suggestions for alternative titles pop up, or in some cases, the following message appears: “The item you requested is not currently available in the US store.”
Amid the confusion, Iranian iOS app developers received a message from Apple, stating, “Under the US sanctions regulations, the App Store cannot host, distribute, or do business with apps or developers connected to certain US embargoed countries.” The week after Apple’s purge, Google followed suit, removing Iranian apps for Android phones from Google Play.
Tyler Cullis, an associate sanctions attorney with Ferrari & Associates, P.C., told Al-Monitor, “It is unclear why Apple and Google were permitting the hosting of Iranian apps on their respective app stores in the first place, but the decision to remove them appears consistent with US sanctions laws.”
There is indeed the possibility that Apple and Google may have misinterpreted US sanctions law. In March 2010, under the Barack Obama administration, the United States granted a license — known as the General License D-1, or Personal Communications GL — authorizing a range of activities, including permitting Iranians to access and download mobile phone apps from US app stores.
Iran, South Africa Agree to Boost ICT Cooperation
Tags: Alopeyk, Android, Apple, Apps, Delion, DigiKala, DJ, Donald Trump, featured, Ferrari & Associates, Google, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Snapp, Snapp.ir, Takhfifan, Uber, United States, Zoraq
By editor on in Investment
A member of the Iranian parliament said there are no legal barriers for foreign investors in Iran, adding the country enjoys favorable conditions for foreign financiers.
Speaking on the sidelines of IranPlast international exhibition in Tehran on Wednesday, Javad Hosseinikia said, “Iran is a paradise for foreign investors.”
He said the fair offers domestic companies a chance to introduce their potentialities to the world and attracts foreign investors to the petrochemical sector.
The 11th edition of IranPlast Exhibition, which kicked off on September 24 and is mounted with as many as 1,124 companies, wraps up on Wednesday.
The fair is organized in the four sections of raw materials, end-used items, semi constructed items, machinery and services.
The exhibitors come from countries like Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, India, Serbia, Italy, South Korea, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom, Thailand, Czech, Cyprus, Turkey, Taiwan, China, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
(Source: Shana)
KEPCO, SOCAR discuss Caspian Oil Cooperation
Directors of Iran’s Khazar Exploration and Production Company (KEPCO) and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) met to discuss oil cooperation in the Caspian Sea region.
Mohsen Delaviz, KEPCO managing director, and SOCAR’s Rovnag Ibrahim Abdullayev met in Baku to discuss cooperation in energy projects in the region.
During the meeting, Delaviz said, “There are vast grounds for enhancing relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan for cooperation in the energy sector which can lead to economic progress for the two countries.”
He said grounds are ready for cooperation of the two countries in oil projects in the Caspian Sea, stressing continuation of talks between the two companies.
(Source: Shana)
Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi says an agreement will be signed with Iran soon to jointly invest in two oil fields shared between the two countries.
Luaibi did not specify which fields were concerned and when the agreement would be signed. Nevertheless, it would be a groundbreaking move in the history of economic cooperation between two important oil heavyweights in the region.
In August, Iraq’s Ambassador to Tehran Rajih al-Mussawi said his country was considering a plan to cooperate with Iran in the development of Azadegan oil field which the two sides share.
Mussawi added that officials from the oil ministries of both countries had already started negotiations to the same effect, adding that some “good news” would be publicized soon.
Earlier this month, Shell announced that it had quit Majnoon. The decision was seen as part of a strategy by the global giant to sell out of its oil fields in Iraq – a move which was in line with its global $30 billion asset disposal program.
Iran announced in August that it had received proposals from Shell for the development of Azadegan as well as another field also shared with Iraq named Yadavaran – both located in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
Shell signed a basic agreement with the NIOC in December 2016 to study the investment potentials in South Azadegan and Yadavaran as well as the Kish gas field.
(Source: NIOC)
Iran files Lawsuit against Telegram founder
KEPCO, SOCAR discuss Caspian Oil Cooperation
Tags: Azadegan, Azadegan oilfield, featured, Iraq, Majnoon, shared oilfields, Shell, Yadavaran
By editor on in Communication, Security
By Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iran Business News.
The Telegram messaging application is the most popular mobile software in Iran, but it has always been on the verge of being blocked for various reasons.
Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, Tehran’s prosecutor general, has announced that the Iranian judiciary has filed a lawsuit against the manager of Telegram, a decision that may be the first phase of new attempts at blocking Telegram.
Pavel Durov, who is called the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia, is a Russian entrepreneur and the manager of Telegram, which is headquartered in Berlin.
Dolatabadi stated Sept. 26: “A lawsuit has been filed against the Telegram manager, and this case has been referred to the International Affairs [section] of the Tehran Court.” Adding, “Telegram has become an appropriate platform for the activities of organized criminal groups, in addition to providing services to terrorist groups, including Daesh [Islamic State], and promoting child pornography, human trafficking and narcotics trafficking.”
On July 26, Abdolsamad Khoram Abadi, a deputy of Iran’s prosecutor general, said, “Daesh carried out all its coordination for the terrorist attack on [Iranian] parliament through Telegram,” referring to the two terrorist attacks that were simultaneously executed on June 7 by five terrorists in Tehran, resulting in the deaths of more than 17 people.
Iran eyes Closer Ties with Singapore
Iran’s president congratulated his new Singaporean counterpart on taking office, hoping for the expansion of relations with the Southeast Asian nation in all fields.
In a message on Monday, President Hassan Rouhani congratulated Halimah Yacob on becoming the eighth president of the Republic of Singapore.
Given the mutual political determination and the great potential for cooperation, Iran hopes to deepen and enhance relations with Singapore in all areas, Rouhani added.
Yacob became Singapore’s first female president after a walkover election that saw no vote after no other contenders ran for the position.
Yacob, 63, a former speaker of parliament, did not have to face an election for the largely ceremonial post after authorities decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria.
She is Singapore’s first president from the Muslim Malay minority in 47 years since the late Yusof Ishak, who governed in the mid-1960s.
(Source: Tasnim, under Creative Commons licence)
Philippines Considers Investing in Iran Petchem Sector
By editor on in Investment, Oil & Gas
Tehran and Manila held talks on enhancing energy ties and petrochemical investment in Iran.
Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh and Jose De Venecia, special representative of the Philippines president, met in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss energy ties and petrochemical investment in Iran.
Supplying feedstock to refineries in Philippines by Iran and financing petrochemical products in Iran by Philippine investors were the meeting’s highlights.
Jose Claveria de Venecia Jr. also known as JDV or Joe De V (born December 26, 1936) is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, serving from 1992 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2008.
(Source: Shana)
Iran World’s Third Largest Natural Gas Producer
Iran eyes Closer Ties with Singapore
Tags: featured, petrochemicals, Philippines
Iran has been named the worlds third largest natural gas producer in 2016, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA in its report said Iran had produced 190 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas last year which it said was 5.3 percent of world’s total.
The agency in its report said the US and Russia were the leading gas producers over the same period adding that their outputs stood at 749 bcm (20.7 percent) and 644 bcm (17.7 percent), respectivelythe next top producers were Canada (174 bcm – 4.8 percent) and Qatar (165 bcm – 4.6 percent).
The IEA further in its report identified Iran as the world’s fifth producer of crude oil in 2016. Top on the list in the same category was Saudi Arabia followed by Russia, the US and Canada.
On the same front, Iran’s total oil production in 2016 was 200 tonnes or 4.6 percent of a global total of 4,300 tonnes.
Saudi Arabia was the leading producer with 583 tonnes (13.5 percent) followed by Russia (546 tonnes – 12.6 percent), the US (537 tonnes – 12.4 percent) and Canada (220 tonnes – 5.1 percent).
Iran is considered to have the world’s largest reserves of natural gas and its current production stands at around 660 million cubic meters per day.
The country also has the world’s fourth largest oil reserves and its current output is believed to be above 3 million barrels per day.
(Source: NIOC)
Iranian Firm to Build Utility Vessels for Oil Platforms
Philippines Considers Investing in Iran Petchem Sector
Tags: featured, gas production, International Energy Agency (IEA), Liquefied natural gas (LNG), Russia, Saudi Arabia, United States
