Month: November 2013

Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh Iran’s oil ministry has opened contacts with western majors as the government of Hassan Rouhani tries to capitalise on progress in nuclear talks and encourage companies to prepare for an eventual lifting of sanctions. Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the veteran oil minister who has returned to government after an eight-year absence, told the Financial Times he had held meetings with European companies and “indirectly” with US firms with a view to inviting them back to Iran . In his first interview with the foreign media, the minister who persuaded the likes of Total , Royal Dutch Shell , Eni and Statoil to invest in the oil and gas sector in the 1990s despite US sanctions, said these companies were now among those he was seeking to attract back to Iran. All have withdrawn from Iran in recent years, frustrated with […]

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Hard-line Iranian politicians publicly criticized the deal reached in Geneva last week over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, an agreement that has largely been welcomed by Iranians. Hard-line lawmaker Ruhollah Hosseinian said the deal was so vague and conditional that it may finally lead to a shutting down of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Hamid Rasaei, another hard-line legislator, has called it “a poison chalice.” Most lawmakers supported the deal, saying it eases sanctions that world powers have placed on Iran and prevents them from imposing new ones. Discussions about it were broadcast live on state radio as Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif briefed lawmakers on it. “We should tell the people what we have lost and what we have gained and why,” Hosseinian told the house. “It practically tramples on Iran’s enrichment rights… Uranium enrichment restrictions in the final stage and constraints in […]

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Crude traders are skeptical that the accord loosening some economic sanctions against Iran in return for limiting nuclear work will lead to a surge in oil supply from what was once OPEC’s second-biggest producer. Brent, the benchmark for half the world’s crude, rose 15 cents today to $111.03 a barrel, little changed from where it was before the agreement was reached Nov. 24. While oil fell as much as 2.7 percent the next day, futures erased the decline by the end of the trading session. “Brent had a knee-jerk selloff,” said Stephen Schork , president of the Schork Group Inc., a consultant to the energy industry in Villanova, Pennsylvania . “The market is skeptical that this is as bearish as it would seem to be.” The six-month agreement capped the country’s crude exports at 1 million barrels a day. Until the U.S. removes all oil sanctions, markets are unlikely […]

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Americans back a newly brokered nuclear deal with Iran by a 2-to-1 margin and are very wary of the United States resorting to military action against Tehran even if the historic diplomatic effort falls through, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday. The findings were rare good news in the polls for President Barack Obama, whose approval ratings have dropped in recent weeks because of the botched rollout of his signature healthcare reform law. According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, 44 percent of Americans support the interim deal reached between Iran and six world powers in Geneva last weekend, and 22 percent oppose it. While indicating little trust among Americans toward Iranian intentions, the survey also underscored a strong desire to avoid new U.S. military entanglements after long, costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even if the Iran deal fails, 49 percent want the United States to then […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com