Oil Minister Javad Owji said more than 45 contracts and memorandums of understanding worth $15.6 billion have been signed in the past six months.
“The contracts are in different fields, including development of oil and gas fields, collection of associated petroleum gas, construction of pipelines for transfer of petroleum products, renovation of refineries and establishment of underground gas storage,” the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana also quoted Owji as saying.
“The Oil Ministry has not been withheld by the [delayed] outcome of the Vienna Agreement for the past six months, and development and investment are a priority,” he added.
Iran, European countries and the US are holding protracted talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
These talks started in the Austrian capital Vienna in April to restore the faltering nuclear deal, from which Washington pulled out in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Tehran to roll back its commitments in response.
Iran wants an effective and verifiable removal of all US sanctions before reversing its nuclear measures. It also demands assurances that no US government would violate the deal again.
Eight rounds through the talks, some diplomats are anticipating a conclusion soon while some key areas of conflict are yet to be agreed upon.
In related news, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company said $18 billion will be allocated to the development of new refining projects in the coming years.
“The construction of Shahid Soleimani Oil Refinery with a capacity of 300,000 barrel per day with an investment of $11.5 billion, the construction of a Khuzestan refinery with an initial estimated investment of $4.5 billion and the second phase of the development of Abadan refinery with an investment of $1.87 billion are among the most important projects on the agenda,” Farhad Ahmadi was also quoted as saying by Shana.
“In financing the Shahid Soleimani Oil Refinery project, we will use various methods, including financing, bank resources and public funds,” he said, adding that in the project, the maximum capacity of domestic manufacturers will be used.
“The project will play an important role in the development of domestic industries and job creation in the country's refining and oil industry,” he said.
Boosting Sales
A former director of international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company has announced the desire of Asian companies to buy Iranian crude oil despite the US sanctions.
“Regardless of the outcome of JCPOA talks and given the high demand for oil in the market, Iran will continue to boost its sales. Currently, all producers are producing at their maximum capacity and only Iran has excess capacity,” Mohammad Ali Khatibi was also quoted as saying by Shana.
“The global demand for oil is expected to increase by 3 to 3.5 million barrels per day this year. The market is counting on Iran's production capacity.”
The ex-official noted that all sanctions related to oil exports, including shipping, insurance, tolls and banking, should be lifted globally, because the non-lifting of one of the crude oil export chains will cause a crisis in practice.
“Iran will be able to increase oil exports by about 1.5 million barrels by lifting sanctions, but still this figure cannot reduce the market turmoil,” he said.
Speaking about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Khatibi pointed out that Russia is currently exporting a total of 8 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day and there is no replacement for this high export figure.
“It also supplies 40% of Europe's daily gas consumption. Western countries are fully aware of the importance of Russia's oil and gas exports, so they have so far excluded the energy sector from sanctions against Moscow," he said.
“If Western countries were to block Russia's oil and gas exports, they will inevitably have to face a strong reaction from Russia, in which case the oil and gas markets will be seriously affected. So, given the behavior of Western countries and Russia's reaction, we must see more developments in this area in the future.”
According to global statistics, the oil and gas reserves of Europe and the United States are only sufficient for 90 days, and in the event of a crisis, these countries will not be able to withstand market fluctuations in the long run.
