CAO head:
TEHRAN, Sep. 16 (MNA) – Head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh said that Iran has the capacity to remain unaffected by the recent US sanctions on the country's aviation industry.
Abedzadeh made the remarks on the sidelines of Aero Persia Exhibition, the first International Air Industry Exhibition, on Friday in Tehran, adding “we are not yet informed of the expanse of these sanctions and have to wait for the result of Washington's decisions. But what matters is that everyone has now realized who is after hindering Iran’s constructive interactions with the world.”
Abedzadeh was referring to the recent move by US President Trump in approving the Congress bill on applying new anti-Iran sanctions and prohibiting sales of new aircraft to the the Islamic Republic.
"The world has recognized Iran as a country which seeks productive and constructive cooperation with the world; however, if certain countries decide to interfere with this development, we will respond accordingly," he stressed.
Abedzadeh went on to add, “we have always endured the most severe sanctions. We have carried this heavy burden both before and after the war, but we managed to move forward in spite of it all. Today, we have the highest number of air travels in the region and the average growth rate of transporting passengers in domestic flights have doubled; this index is 3 to 4 percent higher than the average of the region."
CAO’s head also called on an efficient utilizing of the country's high capacity and vast potential. "Iranian specialists have proved that they excel at managing Iran’s aviation industry in the best possible way," he added.
Pointing to the infrastructures for aviation industry, he said “we have the capability to design and manufacture aircraft and helicopters which is very valuable and has been accomplished through years of study by our researchers, leading to Iranian companies’ competence in overhaul and maintenance of aircraft.”
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TEHRAN, Sep. 16 (MNA) – Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and China Development Bank (CDB) inked a cooperation agreement worth 15 billion euros to provide financing facilities for development projects.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in addition to defining framework of cooperation between Iranian and Chinese banks, provides a basis for long-term ties with China Development Bank in technical, operational and human resource training areas.
CBI Governor Valiollah Seif, on the second day of his visit to China and at a meeting with CDB Chairman Hu Huaibang, voiced satisfaction towards collaborations between the two sides for financing the project of electrifying Tehran-Mashhad railway reiterating “expansion of relations opens a new branch in Iran-China trade and financial ties and supports offered by Chinese banks are worth appreciation.”
Moreover, the meeting also discussed issues like reinvigoration of banking and monetary accords in all fields such as expansion of financial and banking relations in all areas, including financing, monetary settlement and the use of local currencies in transactions between the two countries as well as providing comprehensive banking services to Iranian banks.
At a separate meeting with, Guo Shuqing, Chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), Iran’s Seif pointed to development of economic cooperation in the post-JCPOA era saying “level of economic relations between Iran and China has increased substantially since the nuclear deal was sealed though financial and banking cooperation needs to be expanded proportionately to allow banks to provide services tailored to the level of economic exchanges.”
The Chinese side, for his part, acknowledged remarks made by CBI governor and expressed willingness to engage in banking and financial interactions with Iranian banks urging Chinese banks to increase their ties with Iranian counterparts.
It is worth noting that, China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), who is responsible for setting up and enforcing banking supervision regulations in China, plays an important role in activities of Chinese banks as well as in their international cooperation. In meetings held with participation of some directors of commercial banks in Iran, the sides agreed to boost banking cooperation of the two countries and hold bilateral meetings. Meanwhile, more effective presence of banks of Iran and China in the other side was discussed and it was decided that scope for further promotion of ties be provided.
The Iranian delegation also attended a meeting with officials of Exim Bank of China in a bid to raise and deepen relations between the two sides. Solutions and suggestions presented at the meeting were welcomed by both sides and it was agreed that expert teams pursue operationalization of these proposals.
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Luring $100 billion in foreign investment to increase Iran's oil industry is among the oil minister's major tasks.
Attracting foreign investment and technology is a priority for the Islamic Iran in the oil industry, whether in shared fields or for increasing the production of oil at fields that are already operational.
According to Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh, Iran will need 200 billion dollars for financing oil and gas projects under the 6th development plan of the country.
Zangeneh said $130 billion dollars will be invested in upstream projects and the rest will be allotted to developing downstream projects in the industry.
He said over 70% of the amount can be supplied by tapping foreign resources, adding, "We need foreign investments in order to reach the envisaged 6 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate output under the 6th development plan of the country."
The official also said that arrangements for holding a tender for developing Azadegan Oilfield.
Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also has announced the Ministry of Petroleum is seeking new investments in oil industry in a push to enhance recovery of oil from reserves.
Larijani underlined the significance of the sector in the country's economy, adding any development in the industry affects other industries in Iran.
He said development of oil and gas sector is a priority for Iran, adding enhancing oil recovery from reserves is high on agenda in the industry.
Unprecedented Boom
Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy petroleum minister for international affairs and trading said Iran's oil industry must expect an unprecedented boom given the eagerness of foreign companies to develop projects in the Middle Eastern oil-rich country and ongoing talks with them.
"My estimation is that within the next two years, the industry will witness an unprecedented boom," he said.
The official said Iran is in a good state given the political conditions and ongoing negotiations with foreign companies to develop oil/gas projects.
"Although the industry is over a century old in Iran, production is not commensurate with the size of our reserves which highlights the significance of new investments in the industry," Zamaninia added.
He said attraction of finances is a serious competition in the world because available resources are limited while demands are high.
"Iran's oil industry is currently in its best possible state for attraction of finances; major companies are keen on investing in Iran and good negotiations are under way with them. I keep my fingers crossed that these talks will reach fruition."
"Talks are under way with foreign companies to ensure their return to Iran and many of the companies have submitted to NIOC their master development plans (MDP) for developing projects in Iran,"
Provided that the talks do progress in all sectors as intended by NIOC, their financial dimensions will not take too long given the fact that the company has already signed a deal with a consortium of Total, CNPCI and Petropars for developing phase 11 of the supergiant South Pars Gas Field, he added.
"I cannot say which company will be next to Total and CNPCI for signing deals with NIOC," he added, saying, however, that talks with Russian companies are going on well and will hopefully conclude within the next 2 or 3 months, Shana wrote.
New Oil, Gas Contracts
After no developments last year, Zanganeh said Iran is concluding the financial aspects of a handful of deals with foreign oil and gas companies.
Zanganeh said the government was in serious talks with both domestic and international companies on signing off on as many as 10 oil and natural gas deals by next March, UPI reported.
German energy company Wintershall is among those considering developments for as many as three projects in Iran. "This is while last year this time we had not made such progress in the talks," Zanganeh said.
The German company said in response to emailed questions that it was closely following developments in the region.
In January, the Iranian Oil Ministry published a list of 29 foreign oil and gas companies eligible to take part in any upcoming tenders for exploration and production.
Royal Dutch Shell was among the first to buy oil from Iran after verification of a multilateral nuclear deal. Later, French company Total, China National Petroleum Corp. and Petropars Ltd., a subsidiary of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company, signed a 20-year contract to develop parts of the giant South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.
"In order to prepare for possible further activities in the region, Wintershall signed a memorandum of understanding last year with National Iranian Oil Company about a potential future cooperation," it said. "Details of the memorandum are subject to confidentiality."
Russia is also in negotiations to buy around 100,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran. Deputy oil minister for international affairs in Iran said the contract with Russia will enter into force as early as September.
Foreign Investment
Recently, Zamani-Nia said a number of foreign companies have voiced their willingness to help Iran implement its oil project.
Zamani-Nia said that given the enthusiasm shown by foreign companies to be involved in Iran's oil sector, the industry will experience a great boom within the next two years.
Pointing to the ongoing negotiations with directors of foreign oil companies, he added, "There is intense competition across the world to attract foreign investment, but the assets are limited while competition for absorbing them is high."
In relevant remarks in late October, Iranian Petrochemical Commercial Company (IPCC) Executive Director Mehdi Sharifi Niknafs said Iranian petrochemical facilities are ready to present their products to Germany, Britain and Europe.
According to a directive by the Headquarters of Economy of Resistance, Iran National Oil Company should settle 10 contracts by mid-March 2018.
Noting that the first agreement with Total, CNPCI and Petropars has been signed to develop the Phase 11 of South Pars Joint Gas Field, Zamani-Nia said that if technical talks are conducted properly, negotiations on other sections will not take long.
Earlier this month, Zanganeh was confirmed for a second term in office as the oil minister for a country that has the third largest oil reserves in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Iran has seen some economic doors open in response to a multilateral agreement that brought sanctions relief in exchange for modification on its nuclear program.
TEHRAN, Sep. 15 (MNA) – Iran’s deputy economy minister said, within a 10-billion-dollar contract, China has allocated Lines of Credit (LOCs) to five Iranian banks.
Mohammad Khazaei made the remarks while speaking at the MoU-signing ceremony for a ten-billion-dollar LOC contract between CITIC Group Corporation Ltd. of China and five Iranian banks.
“The deal marks the first major contract signed with China in the era after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” stated the official adding “upon signing this contract, we will be able to quickly finalize its executive procedures in Iran and China.”
Head of the Iranian Investment Organization added “Iran's cooperation with CITIC Group is divided into three categories one of the main areas of cooperation with the large financial institution being financial analysis and project financing as signed by the parties.”
“CITIC is one of the largest economic groups in the world and taking advantage of its companies to execute major Iranian projects based on mutual agreement remains yet another aspect of cooperation between the two sides. The third area of collaboration between Iran and the CITIC lies in discussion of financial services of the Chinese side in Iran and signing of the agreement will boost ties between financial and economic groups of Iran and China. Given the presence of CITIC on the international level, the group can serve as Iran’s gateway for to the world,” he explained.
An agreement on a $ 10 billion credit line between Iran and China's CITIC Group was inked in Beijing on Thursday at presence of Governor of Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif, Iran's Ambassador to Beijing Ali Asghar Khaji, Chairman of Iran’s Investment Organization Mohammad Khazaei as well as CITIC Group directors. The meeting, which was held at the Chinese CITIC Center in Beijing, signed a $ 10 billion agreement on credit line of China’s CITIC Group with five Iranian banks.
CITIC GROUP is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, ranked among the top 500 groups. The China Construction Bank, CITIC Bank, Bidou Group, China Film Company and China Post Express Company are among subsidiaries of CITIC Group.
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TEHRAN, Sep. 13 (MNA) – Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development said opening a new trade route into Europe other than Turkey can boost economic activities via road transportation.
Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Davoud Keshavarzian made the remark in a meeting with Belarusian envoy on Wednesday, while voicing Iran's keen interest in developing transit cooperation and business and commercial relations with Belarus.
"At the moment, Iran holds extensive transactions and communication with European countries mostly carried out through Turkey. We are interested to open another pathway to Europe alongside Turkey, which will lead to further economic and commercial activities via the transportation infrastructures of Iran and Belarus.”
Pointing to the efforts made to enhance the transit relations between the two countries, Keshavarzian added that the respective authorities of the two countries have agreed to review the number of bilateral traffic and transit licenses and the issue is currently on the organization’s agenda.
Belarusian ambassador, for his part, expressed interest in expanding relations with the Islamic Republic, adding “there are favorable conditions and capacities to increase road transport and transit between the two countries.”
He also voiced hope that serious steps be taken to promote trade transactions between the two sides.
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TEHRAN, Sep. 13 (MNA) – IMIDRO Managing Director Mahdi Karbasian announced a recent finance agreement between Iran and Germany, saying Iran will receive some good news about mining finances from a number of countries.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony introducing the new CEO of Iran’s National Steel Company, Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mahdi Karbasian said “there are good news awaiting Iran concerning the mines and mining industry.”
According to Karbasian, who is also the Managing Director of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), two "good plans" have been finalized which include the development of Hormozgan Steel Company and a new development plan for Mobarake Steel Company. Two days ago, Mobarake Steel Company reached an agreement with a German investor, under which the Iranian steel company will receive investments from the European country. Karbasian again hinted at some "good news" to be disclosed to media in the near future in regard to the agreement.
Karbasian evaded the question on the value of German finance contract with Mobarake Steel Company, only saying that Germany’s finance for the mining company has been finalized, but the figure will be revealed after the deal is signed. According to Karbasian, Italy is also considering to offer some finances as well.
Karbasian went on to add that Iran is also in talks with with China in order to attract foreing investment. The recent contract signed between Iran's Ministry of Economy with South Korea has also provided good opportunities to finance mines and mining industries in the country, he added.
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Tehran (ISNA) - Five Iranian banks have jointly signed a finance deal worth $10 billion with CITIC Trust, a Chinese state-owned investment company, to fund development projects in Iran.
The CEOs of the Export Development Bank of Iran, Bank of Industry and Mine, Bank Refah, Bank Parsian and Bank Pasargad–a cohort of private and public sector banks–were part of a delegation headed by Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif on his landmark visit to Beijing on Thursday, Financial Tribune reported.
The five lenders are agent entities through which Chinese funds will be spent on water management, energy, environment and transport projects.
"The construction and repayment periods of 10 to 12 years will be set in proportion to the size of each project," CBI's official news website reported.
The Chinese deal comes on the heels of another watershed contract finalized last month between Iran and South Korea, which secured €8 billion worth of credits for various Iranian projects.
During his stay, Seif also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Development Bank of China on financing construction and manufacturing projects worth €15 billion.
According to CBI, in addition to setting a framework of cooperation between the two nation's banks, the MoU will be a "basis for long-term relations with the Development Bank of China on technical, operational and educational fronts".
The CBI chief is to discuss expansion of correspondent banking relations and other related topics on payment and transaction of funds between Iranian lenders and their Chinese counterparts.
The head of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran Mohammad Khazaei also accompanied Seif on the trip.
The Iranian delegate is also scheduled to meet and negotiate with officials at the China Banking Regulatory Commission with the aim of developing banking relations. Banking problems faced by Iranian companies and businessmen will be one of the topics of discussion.
Established in 2003 to respond to the supervisory needs of the Chinese banking system, CBRC is the country's independent banking regulator based in Beijing.
At the ceremony for signing the $10 billion finance deal, Seif said the deal will strengthen the historical and now strategic relationship between Iran and the Asian superpower.
CITIC Trust Chairman Chen Yisong said Iran-China political ties are rising favorably and the deal has been clinched with guidance from the leaders of both nations.
"We are witnessing a significant event today and I hope that this deal will pave the way for the development of both countries," he declared.
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Tehran (ISNA) - Germany’s Mercedes-Benz Trucks signed a contract with Tehran-based automaker Iran Khodro, parent company Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) told Reuters, laying the foundation for resuming distribution of its trucks in Iran.
The deal between Iran Khodro and Mercedes-Benz Trucks includes creating a joint company that provides sales and after-sale services in the Islamic Republic.
A second deal would be also signed next month to create a joint venture in Iran for production of heavy vehicles including Actros trucks.
French PSA (PEUP.PA) -- the maker of Peugeots and Citroens -- and rival Renault (RENA.PA) have pushed hard into Iran since its 2015 deal with world powers that saw international sanctions lifted.
PSA has signed production deals worth 700 million euros ($768 million), while Renault has announced a new plant investment to increase its production capacity to 350,000 vehicles a year.
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Tehran (ISNA) - Iran's crude and condensate exports rose slightly in August as lower deliveries from key competitors like Saudi Arabia and Iraq meant there was more demand for crude from some of Iran's main buyers.
Total estimated export volume on Aframaxes, Suezmaxes and VLCCs from Iranian ports in August rose almost 2.5% to 2.42 million b/d from 2.37 million b/d in July, according to data from Platts trade flow software cFlow.
Exports to Asia fell to 1.46 million b/d in August from 1.55 million b/d in July, with demand from key customer India down sharply, although flows to China continued to rise.
Europe's share of Iranian exports grew sharply, with demand from Italy, France, the Netherlands and Greece all up, while Turkey remained a key buyer too.
Sources and analysts noted that Iranian oil exports last month rose as demand for its crude, especially in China and Europe, climbed, supported by favorable economics.
Moves by Saudi Arabia and Iraq to further reduce their exports in August, both to meet domestic demand and also as part of OPEC's coordinated output cuts, bode well for Iran.
The reductions have created a gap for Iran to fill, while state-owned NIOC has also reduced prices for some if its heavy crude grades, making them more economically viable for refiners and pushing up spot demand.
Sources added that Iran's additional exports came from its onshore storage, not necessarily only from additional production.
Flows to China, Europe climb
Exports to Iran's largest customer, China, were up slightly to 693,419 b/d in August from 638,322 b/d, the highest volume Iran has exported to China this year, according to Platts data.
Chinese consumption has increased this summer on healthy spot demand, buoyed by growing interest from both Chinese state-owned and independent refiners. Chinese companies have seen cuts in their term contract volumes from Saudi Aramco in the past few months, pushing up demand for Iranian crude, which is of a similar quality.
Meanwhile, Iranian oil flows to Europe rebounded sharply in August, with 835,742 b/d sailing to the region, a rise of almost 200,000 b/d month on month.
Turkey remains the region's largest buyer of Iranian crude, with 256,258 b/d exported last month.
Exports to Italy, France, the Netherlands and Greece were all up month on month, demonstrating the price competitiveness of Iranian crude against other regional sour grades, like Russia's Urals, Iraq's Basrah Light and Saudi Arabia's Arab Heavy.
Production boost
Iran's oil production has also continued to rise in the past few months and is now above its OPEC quota of 3.797 million b/d.
According to a recent Platts OPEC survey, Iranian crude oil production was at 3.83 million b/d in August, up 10,000 b/d from July.
The country's oil minister Bijan Zanganeh also confirmed earlier this week that production was more than 3.8 million b/d.
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Tehran (ISNA) - The exports of Iranian fisheries products have increased by 60 percent over the past four months, the head of Iran Fisheries Organization announced.
“Iran exported $412 million worth of fisheries products to various countries of the world during the past four months. We also saw a decline in the import of marine products by 30 percent,” the head of Iran Fisheries Organization Hassan Salehi said.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has about one percent of the world's population and 1.90 million tons of aquatic species are produced and fished in the country, while our production is half a percent of the world's share,” he went on to say.
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Tehran (ISNA) - During weekdays ending up to September 7, while 469,565 MT of commodities worth over 260.4 million USD were traded in Iran Mercantile Exchange, trading value and volume experienced a growth of 23% and 7%, respectively.
According to the report from IME International Affairs and PR, last week, on the domestic and export metal and mineral trading floor of IME, 154,180 MT of various products worth close to 114 million USD were traded.
On this trading floor, 30,000 MT of iron ore, 109,170 MT of steel products, 5,200 MT of aluminum, 9,570 MT of copper, 140 MT of molybdenum concentrates as well as 100 MT of zinc were traded.
The report declares that on domestic and export oil and petrochemical trading floors of IME, 240,622 MT of different commodities with the total value of 124 million USD were traded.
On this trading floor, more than 72,690 MT of bitumen, 53,363 MT of polymer products, 74,500 MT of VB feed stock as well as 13,500 MT of lube-cut oil, 22,121 MT of chemical products, 1,000 MT of sulfur, 1,012 MT of base oil and slack waxes and 2,437 MT of insulation were traded.
Moreover, on the agricultural trading floor of IME, 72,269 MT of various commodities worth over 21.8 million USD were traded. On this trading floor, 1,242 MT of feed barley, 67,603 MT of wheat, 4,300 MT of sugar and 123,000 day oil chicks were traded by customers.
It is worth noting that during the first week of September, the side market of IME witnessed trading of 970 MT of phosphate concentrate, 457 MT of metal scrape, 47 MT of used locomotive oil, 16 MT of Polymeric methylene di-phenyl diisocyanate OFF grade 1 as well as 3 MT of empty barrels.
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Economy
Russia Asks for Iran's Flight Check Services
TEHRAN (FNA)- Managing Director of Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company Rahmatollah Mahabadi announced that Russia is willing to use Iran's flight check services.
"One of the Russian firms has asked Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company's flight check services department for these services," Mahabadi said on Sunday.
He added that the Russian company raised the demand on the sidelines of the Aeropersia International Civil Aviation Exhibition in Tehran.
Iran and Russia have developed their cooperation in air industry.
The Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) of Iran is due to build helicopters certified for civilian use in cooperation with a Russian company.
"IDRO has signed a contract with the Russian Helicopters company to produce civil helicopters," Deputy Head of IDRO Abolfazl Kiyani Bakhtiyari said in July.
Noting that the Russians will start the project to manufacture helicopters in joint investment with Iran, he said that IDRO and the Russian firm will eventually cooperate in the production of civil helicopters.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi blasted Washington for blocking sales of aircraft to Iran, calling it a flagrant violation of the nuclear deal.
Boroujerdi's remarks came in reaction to a recent move by the US House of Representatives in voting in favor of measures that prevent the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) from clearing licenses to allow aircraft sales to Iran while also prohibit the use of funds to authorize the required financial transactions.
"The sale of aircraft to Iran has been included in the text and appendixes of the nuclear deal, therefore the US House’s measure clearly violates the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)," Boroujerdi said.
The senior lawmaker said that it may be true that the move is still in its initial stage and requires the approval of US Senate to be finalized, but the measure is wrong from the very first step and needs to be corrected.
Boroujerdi maintained that other signatories to the deal as well as the UN Security Council must protest against the US move.
“Iran has always relied on its own to solve sanction-related issues and is not waiting for the US decision, but this issue is our right and there is a legal act for it, therefore the US violation must be responded to with seriousness,” he said.
“I hope the committee observing the implementation of the JCPOA will take an appropriate decision about this issue,” Boroujerdi added.
US Republican Representative Peter Roskam said the measure would remain in place until "Iran ends its support to Syrian President Bashar Assad".
In relevant remarks in late August, Foreign Ministry Spokesman categorically dismissed the anti-Iran remarks made by his US counterpart Heather Nauert and advised Washington to play a more realistic role on the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and the six world powers.
"We are not surprised by the repetitive and unrealistic remarks made by this American official (Nauert), and are aware of the intentions and goals behind repeating such baseless and groundless claims and accusations raised by various US officials against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Qassemi said."
"We advise the American side to be realistic about Iran’s unique role in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East," Qassemi added.
He further referred to Nauert’s claims about Iran’s violation of the nuclear deal, and said, "It is not difficult to prove the Islamic Republic’s compliance with the spirit and text of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which has been repeatedly confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other parties to the deal."
Nauert had said Washington was reviewing its policy toward Iran and that it believes the nuclear deal didn't put an end to what she called as Tehran's other "destabilizing activities" in the region.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran expects its installed renewable power capacity barring hydropower to surpass 700 megawatts at the end of the current Iranian year in March 2018, a senior energy official said.
"Iran currently has 77,000 megawatts of power capacity, of which 360 megawatts is renewable energy. Most of the electricity generated in the country comes from thermal power plants which use fossil fuel, Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Fallahatian said.
He said that renewable energy, including hydropower, accounts for about 6 percent of the overall electricity produced in the country where 90% of the fuel used in power plants is natural gas.
“We have planned to allocate part of the country's electricity basket to renewables and as a result, we have decided to bring 1000 MW of renewable energy to the national grid each year in the next five years if possible and raise the country's renewable power capacity to 5,000 MW,” Fallahatian has said.
This paltry figure in a country with over 300 sunny days and an average of 2800 hours of sunshine is while air pollution in major cities, especially in the capital Tehran, has turned into a major dilemma in recent years.
Iran is one of the most energy-intensive countries in the world, where inefficient energy use amid consumer subsidies has resulted in a per capita energy consumption which is ten times greater than that in the European Union.
The national energy blueprint is now based on expanding renewable power generation and improving energy efficiency by reducing domestic hydrocarbon use which would free up more oil and gas for export.
Energy producers from Germany, Italy, India, South Korea, Japan, Spain, China, and Switzerland have visited the country to test the waters for possible investment.
The country also has approximately 141 megawatts of installed wind power. According to SUNA, there are only 15 wind farms in Iran where 100,000 megawatts of potential capacity exists from wind alone.
Officials say more than 4,000 megawatts of renewable capacity to be built by 2020 is expected to come from wind power.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Royal Dutch Shell is preparing to bid for developing Iran's giant Azadegan field after putting an end to a century of oil production in neighboring Iraq.
Shell has submitted the results of its feasibility studies on South Azadegan and Yadavaran fields to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the Iranian Oil Ministry announced.
Both Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields lie across the Iraqi border in Iran's strategic West Karoun oil cluster.
Shell signed a basic agreement with NIOC in December 2016 to study the investment potentials in South Azadegan and Yadavaran as well as Kish gas field.
South Azadegan, discovered in 2001, has recoverable reserves of about 2 billion barrels. It is believed to be connected with Iraq’s Majnoon field from which Shell has decided to withdraw.
The decision announced by Shell on Wednesday came after long-running talks on a planned output expansion from current levels of 220,000 barrels per day appeared to founder.
The Anglo-Dutch firm said it had agreed with Iraq’s oil ministry to relinquish operations at Majnoon field to the government after unfavorable changes to fiscal terms.
Shell is also selling its 20 percent stake in West Qurna 1 oil field in southern Iraq which is operated by Exxon Mobil.
Yadavaran – which was once described as the crown jewel of Iran’s oil projects – has recoverable reserves of 3 billion barrels.
South Azadegan and Yadavaran are located in Iran’s southwestern oil-rich province of Khouzestan and already have an early production of 40,000 bpd and 85,000 bpd, respectively. Both are expected to boost Iran’s oil production capacity by above 600,000 bpd significantly once fully developed within the next three years.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Bulgarian Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva underlined the need for broadening cooperation with Iran in exchanging tourists.
"Bulgaria is keen to have close relations with Iranian tourism and travel agencies," Georgieva said in a meeting with Iran's Cultural Attaché to Bulgaria Mohammad Ali Kiani.
She also voiced he country's readiness to sign cooperation document between Iran and Bulgaria.
"About 18,569 Iranian tourists visited Bulgaria during the first seven months of 2017 which show 10.5 percent rise compared with the same period last year," Georgieva added.
Kiani, for his part, voiced his country's readiness to expand tourism cooperation with Iran.
In relevant remarks in early March, Iranian First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri underlined that his country considers broadening of relations with Bulgaria as highly important.
"I hope to witness the expansion of Tehran-Sofia relations," Jahangiri said in a message to Bulgarian Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov.
He reiterated that the private sectors of the two countries have vast capacities for boosting trade exchanges.
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and China Development Bank (CDB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth 15 billion euros to provide financing facilities for development projects.
The MoU, in addition to defining framework of cooperation between Iranian and Chinese banks, provides a basis for long-term ties with China Development Bank in technical, operational and human resource training areas.
CBI Governor Valiollah Seif who is China now in meeting with CDB Chairman Hu Huaibang, voiced satisfaction towards collaboration between the two sides for financing the project of electrifying Tehran-Mashhad railway.
Seif reiterated that the expansion of relations opens a new chapter in Iran-China trade and financial ties and that the supports offered by the Chinese banks are worth appreciation.
In a relevant development on Friday, China signed an agreement with Iran to provide a credit line of $10 billion for its infrastructure projects.
The agreement was signed between China’s CITIC Trust and a consortium of Iranian banks that included Bank of Industry and Mine, Refah Bank, Parsian Bank, Bank Pasargad and Export Development Bank of Iran.
Based on it, CITIC would provide loans to the Iranian banks to fund projects in areas such as energy, natural environment, transportation and the management of water resources.
Seif who oversaw the signing of the agreement said that the Iranian banks could start receiving loans from CITIC as early as October.
The CBI governor emphasized that the CBI had shown “extensive flexibilities” towards CITIC in sealing the agreement.
He added that this was based on the bank’s history of positive cooperation with the Islamic Republic without elaborating what those flexibilities constituted.
Last September, Iranian nedia quoted a CITIC official as saying that the enterprise was considering to provide Iran with $10 billion of financing, mostly in the country’s steel, copper and coal projects.
The official, identified as Zhou Yafang by the English-language newspaper the Financial Tribune, added that the Chinese government was expected to issue the required permits by the end of 2016 and that the financing process would start in 2017.
Zhou had also emphasized that the financing is fully backed by China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation known as Sinosure.
The Beijing-based CITIC Trust is a state-owned investment company established in 1979. It now owns 44 subsidiaries, including China CITIC Bank, CITIC Holding, CITIC Trust Co. and CITIC Merchant Co. Ltd in China, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
TEHRAN (FNA)- China signed an agreement with Iran to provide a credit line of $10 billion for its infrastructure projects.
The agreement was signed between China’s CITIC Trust and a consortium of Iranian banks that included Bank of Industry and Mine, Refah Bank, Parsian Bank, Bank Pasargad and Export Development Bank of Iran.
Based on it, CITIC would provide loans to the Iranian banks to fund projects in areas such as energy, natural environment, transportation and the management of water resources.
Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Valiollah Seif who oversaw the signing of the agreement said that the Iranian banks could start receiving loans from CITIC as early as October.
Seif emphasized that the CBI had shown “extensive flexibilities” towards CITIC in sealing the agreement.
He added that this was based on the bank’s history of positive cooperation with the Islamic Republic without elaborating what those flexibilities constituted.
Last September, Iranian quoted a CITIC official as saying that the enterprise was considering to provide Iran with $10 billion of financing, mostly in the country’s steel, copper and coal projects.
The official, identified as Zhou Yafang by the English-language newspaper the Financial Tribune, added that the Chinese government was expected to issue the required permits by the end of 2016 and that the financing process would start in 2017.
Zhou had also emphasized that the financing is fully backed by China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation known as Sinosure.
The Beijing-based CITIC Trust is a state-owned investment company established in 1979. It now owns 44 subsidiaries, including China CITIC Bank, CITIC Holding, CITIC Trust Co. and CITIC Merchant Co. Ltd in China, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Latest official figures indicated that South Korea’s imports of crude oil from Iran saw a sharp increase of above 40 percent last month.
South Korea, the world's fifth-biggest crude importer, brought in 1.55 million tons of Iranian crude last month, or 365,641 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 1.1 million tons in the same month in 2016.
Meanwhile, South Korea imported 4.05 million tons of crude, or 957,283 bpd from Saudi Arabia, up 9.8 percent from 3.69 million tons a year ago, data showed.
Overall, South Korea's total crude imports in August rose 17.7 percent to 13.55 million tons, or 3.20 million bpd, according to the data reported by Reuters.
In January-August of 2017, South Korea shipped in 98.23 million tons of crude, or 2.96 million bpd, up 3.9 percent from 94.55 million tons over the same period last year.
South Korea, one of Iran's major Asian clients, mainly purchases an ultra-light oil, also known as condensate, from Iran, but a breakdown of imports is not available. It uses condensate to produce more expensive fuels like naphtha.
For Asian buyers, Iran set the official selling prices of its light and heavy grades at 18 cents and $1.17 respectively below the Oman/Dubai average for August, while it raised September Iranian Light oil prices 20 cents higher than those in August, Reuters added.
Previous figures had shown that South Korea’s imports of oil from Iran over the first seven months of the year had increased by around 48 percent.
Figures showed that the country had imported 10.67 million tons of Iranian crude from January to July, or 368,952 barrels per day, from 7.22 million tons in 2016.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif is in China to confer with senior Chinese officials on finding ways to broaden banking cooperation between Tehran and Beijing.
Seif, heading a high-ranking delegation, left Tehran for Beijing on Thursday and he is expected to sign agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Chinese banking officials, including a ten-billion-dollar agreement to finance construction and manufacturing projects in Iran.
A memorandum of understanding, worth 15 billion euros, is also expected to be signed between representatives of the Iranian banks and China's Development Bank.
The two sides will also try to solve banking problems faced by Iranian companies working in china.
In a relevant development in early August, Tehran and Beijing signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand their economic cooperation.
The MoU was signed between Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and China Chamber of Export and Import of Food Products on the sidelines of a two-day international conference on dried fruits, which kicked off in the city of Guangzhou.
Head of Iran-China Chamber of Commerce Assadollah Asgar Oladi in a speech explained economic cooperation situation between Iran and China and presented figures concerning world export of pistachio and Iran's share in this market.
The conference is held with the aim to improve exchange process between companies active in dried fruits and promotion, development of nuts industry in China.
It is expected that experts from different countries would share their experiences in the conference.
On the sidelines of the conference an exhibition will also be held by companies active in dried fruits industry and among them five Iranian companies will present their products.
In relevant remarks in late July, Tehran's Ambassador to Beijing Ali Asqar Khaji announced that Iran's exports to China have increased considerably in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year.
"The volume of Iran's exports to China has increased considerably in terms of weight in the first six months of 2017," Khaji told reporters.
Noting that China is the largest importer of Iran's non-oil products, he said the volume of the country's non-oil exports to China has shown considerable rise as compared to the previous year.
Iran exports around 40 percent of its petrochemical products and 60-70 percent of the country’s polymer materials to China.
Economy
Shell, NIOC Meet to Confer Development of Iran Gas Field
TEHRAN (FNA)- Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell met with officials from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to discuss the development project of Iran's Kish gas field.
A delegation from Shell headed by Hand Nijkamp, Shell's VP in Shell Upstream International, Middle East and North Africa, met with Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy for development and engineering at NIOC, and Noureddin Shahnazizadeh, managing director of Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC) in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss Shell's proposal for developing Kish Gas Field.
On December 7 2016, Shell signed three MoUs with NIOC to develop the South Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields and the Kish gas field.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine said the Eastern European country’s imports from Iran increased by 30 percent in 2016 compared to a year earlier.
Speaking at the Ukrainian-Iranian business forum, Gennadiy Chyzhykov said from January to May 2017, the volume of Ukrainian exports to the Islamic Republic increased by 78% compared to the same period last year.
“In 2016, compared with 2015, exports from Ukraine to Iran increased by 32%, while imports from Iran -by 30%,” said Chyzhykov.
He further stressed that to increase the volume of foreign trade between Ukraine and Iran, the two countries should prevent the mediation of third countries in building a chain supply.
(Source: Tasnim, under Creative Commons licence)
