Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

You have a very good grasp of the big picture so I am putting your name on top. Congratulations! you’ve got yourself a political board.

I was getting ready to post this anyway. Yes, big power grab for the Straight of Hormuz.

Probably Russia and China whether covertly or not will come to Iran’s aid. In my opinion Iran is getting too aggressive for them not to have the backing of Russia and China. Iran has been granting oil concessions to China, Pakistan, India, Japan, Kazakhstan and Russia, Europe also wants to join but is reluctant because of the nuclear issue. I may have missed some.

Beyond Hormuz an important consideration is once Bush gets to Iran it may be harder to deter the United States from its quest for world domination.

One reason for Bush’s invasion of Iraq was to wrest control from OPEC. Now Iran is setting up to be the major player in oil and gas as Iran takes on west's control of oil trading

#msg-3344143

The primary reason Bush will if possible attack Iran is that Iran which owns the Caspian's southern shores, is the most awkward country in the region for the US: American oil companies have yet to find a way there.

Iran is the main obstacle to US plans to develop international oil and gas projects in the Caspian

#msg-3321787

Here is the latest on some of their dealings.

Kazakhstan builds oil ties with Iran

ASTANA, June 18 (AFP) - Kazakhstan announced Friday it planned to build two oil terminals in Iran as it ramps up a lucrative oil-swap export arrangement that has been criticized for lack of transparency.

The terminals, to be built by the Kazmunaigaz and Kaznafta oil companies, will handle 1.5 million tonnes of oil annually on "profitable terms for Kazakhstan," a written statement from Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov said.

Kazakhstan plans to ship oil from its vast Caspian Shelf reserves to supply domestic demand in densely populated northern Iran.

Iran will pay for the oil with proceeds from global sales of corresponding amounts from its own fields, which are mostly located in the south, thus saving on transport costs.

Though the system has been criticized for lacking transparency, its volumes have nonetheless steadily increased.

Kazakhstan would eventually like to dramatically increase volumes by building a pipeline through Turkmenistan to Iran, a project it has been studying with the French oil group Total.

But Washington, at odds with Iran's government, has been promoting another pipeline that is currently under construction, the BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from the western Caspian to Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

Officials at Akhmatov's office and Kazmunaigaz declined to clarify the location in Iran where the terminals are to be built.

The Caspian Sea -- and especially Kazakhstan's sector -- is home to some of the world's largest untapped oil reserves. It is estimated that there are up to 33 billion barrels of crude under the seabed, which is twice the size of the reserves in the North Sea.


http://www.iranmania.com/news/180604h.asp


Iran Makes New Oil Find


TEHRAN (PIN) -- Iran's Minister of Oil Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said here Saturday that a new oil field has been discovered in the south of the country.

"We have explored a new oil field and we will make its specifications public soon," Zanganeh told reporters on the fringes of a seminar here. The minister did not elaborate.

Zanganeh also said that the oil producers were supplying crude three million barrels more than the market demand.

"The market faces no shortage in supply. Political tensions in the Middle East and notably Iraq and gasoline production technical problems in the United States are the main reason behind oil price hikes," he said.

Zanganeh said that eleven members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are supposed to supply more than 29 million crude barrels this month. "Iran abides by its OPEC quota," he said.

OPEC has called for nonmembers to boost output to help lower oil prices and make up for lost exports from Iraq. Pipeline attacks earlier this week in Iraq threaten to take about one-point-five (m) million barrels of oil a day off global markets.

OPEC's members -- which account for 40 percent of the world's oil supply -- have signaled they'll be boosting production.

Russia, a major producer outside OPEC, has already said it can't increase output anytime soon.

Zanganeh also said that the country was in the process of launching an oil exchange. "At moment, there is no such bourse in the region and we can remove obstacles," he said.

The minister also said that India's flagship overseas firm ONGC Videsh (OVL) is likely to get a 20% stake in Kusk and Hosseinieh oil fields in Iran on nomination basis.

Iran is to offer 20% share (equal to 60,000 barrels per day or 3 million tons of crude oil annually) in Kusk and Hosseinieh fields in exchange for India buying 5 million tons of LNG from Tehran.

"We have held talks with Indian officials but we have not yet reach any agreement," Zanganeh said.

OVL would be accommodated after Tehran selects operators of the two fields through a bidding round by September-end. OVL would have to participate in the bidding process.

Initially, Iran was keen on getting OVL on board the giant South Azadegan oil field but operator Japan has yet to approve any participation of another party in the field.

"National Iranian Oil Co could also consider offering 25% from its share in the field (about 60,000 barrels per day) to OVL," they said. As per indications, the Japanese prefer participation from one of the major oil multinationals in the project.

As regards finalization of term sheet for LNG imports, an Iranian delegation will visit India this month for further discussions. The term sheet is being finalized by Indian Oil Corp and GAIL (India) with National Iranian Gas Export Co.

Till now, there had not been much progress in allocation of a suitable oil field by Iranians to India on nomination in lieu of LNG that the latter will purchase from Iran under a deal signed early last year.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=6/20/2004&Cat=9&Num=023