Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs and Trading Amir-Hossein Zamaninia has said that the deal with Total breaks the ice of foreign investment in Iran\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
In early July, Iran signed a deal with France\u2019s giant Total and China\u2019s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for development of phase 11 of its South Pars gas field (shared with Qatar in the Persian Gulf).<\/p>\n
The $4.879-billion deal was signed by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), as the contractor of project, and a consortium of companies comprising Total, CNPC and Iran\u2019s Petropars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Total ignores any risk of investment in Iran it could be a model for the other international companies, as they see that the door is open and the way is paved\u201d, Zamaninia said in an interview with Persian language Etemad newspaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, we should not exaggerate the importance of this deal, as we know that Iran deserves much more than this and the foreigners should vie for presence and investment in Iran,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
No concern over Total\u2019s deal with Qatar <\/p>\n
As Total has also a deal with Qatar on development of the giant gas field, which is called North Dome in the Qatari side, Zamaninia was asked that if there is any concern about the French company\u2019s concurrent presence in both sides. <\/p>\n
He said there is no concern as Total\u2019s share in the Qatari side is about four percent which is very small.<\/p>\n
Joint fields a priority<\/p>\n
The deputy oil minister next was asked that if Oil Ministry prioritizes Russian companies or European ones for signing the contracts. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThere is no difference between them. Our priority is development of the joint fields and companies make no difference for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Double effort needed after sanctions<\/p>\n
Mentioning the issue of Iraq\u2019s increasing its oil output despite the war and its critical domestic condition and also given that the neighboring country has a number of joint fields with Iran, the official was asked that if he considers such thing a weakness for Iran.<\/p>\n
He replied: \u201cIraq\u2019s success is because all big international companies can work in that country. Oil giants of the U.S. and Europe have brought investment and technology to Iraq and are working there. But, we move relying on our own investment and knowledge. It is an honor for us but now that the sanctions are lifted we should work with double effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
OPEC\u2019s success more than anticipation <\/p>\n
Asked about his idea of the decision made by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for cutting oil production by its members and the organization\u2019s compliance in this due, Zamaninia said: \u201cI believe that their success was more than anticipated. The members complied with the decision. Although some say that the price did not go up, we should imagine that if there was no such decision in OPEC what would happen and how the price would fall.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAnyway, I think that the oil price will be strengthened in the last quarter of 2017\u201d, he opined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs and Trading Amir-Hossein Zamaninia has said that the deal with Total breaks the ice of foreign investment in Iran\u2019s economy. In early July, Iran signed a deal with France\u2019s giant Total and China\u2019s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for development of phase 11 of its South Pars gas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[484,28,31,485,56,213,486,483,482],"yoast_head":"\n