Replies to post #688 on Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

They are getting competition whether they want it or not.

In addition to

1) The Kazakhstan-Iran oil pipeline plan which would do some damage to the Bush backed not so cost-effective Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

2) Heavy foreign investment in the Iranian oil and gas sector, including Japan and China among others,

3) The proposed establishment of the North-South Corridor: Iran, Russia, and Azerbaijan Railroads to Form Int’l Consortium

TEHRAN May 24 (MNA) –- The directors of the Iranian, Russian, and Azerbaijani railroads signing a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU), agreed to establish an international consortium for planning, establishing and inaugurating Rasht-Gazvin-Anzali-Astara railroad.

The railroad directors emphasized the development of direct rail transportation and the improvement of business ties among Iran, Europe, Russia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, India, and the littoral states of the Persian Gulf.
#msg-3174005

We now have an Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan proposal to link power grids.

All of these grand designs incorporating Iran into the international arena have got to piss Bush off.

-Am


Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan : Proposal to link power grids

The head of Russia’s electricity monopoly UES has said he wanted to link the power grids of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran to create a “single energy space”.
The UES chief, Anatoli Chubais, on a one-day visit to Azerbaijan, signed a memorandum on the linking of the three countries’ grids and said he planned to visit Iran in the near future to work out a deal there.
“We have discussed bringing Iran into a single energy space and harmonizing our systems. We are ready to take part in this”, Chubais told reporters after a meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
Linking electricity grids allows a participating country to import power to make up for any shortfall in domestic production, improving the reliability of its energy supply.
UES, which is 52-percent owned by the Russian state, is also keen to find big export markets for its electricity because it struggles to collect payment from domestic consumers.

http://www.mmorning.com/ArticleC.asp?Article=1405&CategoryID=6