Domestic Iran onsortium ink $10B deal to develop Kish gas field National Iranian Oil Company and a domestic consortium led by Bank Mellat signed a $10 billion contract on Saturday to develop Kish gas field, southern Iran. The Kish gas field aims at daily producing 85 million cubic meters of gas and 30,000 barrels of gas condensates. -MNA - 2/6/10
Iran plans $9B investment in gas sector Iran plans to invest up to $9 billion by the next five years to boost infrastructures in its gas sector, the head of National Iranian Gas Company said. - 2/2/10
U.S. Senate Backs Sanctions Targeting Iran's Fuel Suppliers The United States Senate has voted to approve legislation that would allow President Barack Obama to impose sanctions targeting Iran's gasoline suppliers, in a move aimed at pressuring Tehran to curb its nuclear program. - 1/29/10
Russian Envoy: Bushehr Nuclear Plant Is Completed, But Equipment Tests Are Needed Russian ambassador to Iran Alexander Sadovnikov said Bushehr nuclear power plant has been completed but its apparatuses need to be meticulously tested. "Bushehr nuclear power plant has been fully completed and its pieces of equipment are installed, but it is necessary to test the pieces before uranium processing in reactor." -ISNA - 1/26/10
Iran To Sell Diesel To Iraq Despite U.S. Sanctions Iran has secured a deal to export about 19,000 barrels per day (bpd) of diesel to Iraq this year, industry sources said today. -Reuters - 1/25/10
Iran, Azerbaijan to finalize gas deal Within 90 days Tehran expects to finalize a long-term deal with Baku to import gas, the head of National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) says. - 1/22/10
Iran Gasoline Stock Surpasses 2.3b Liters Iran boosted its gasoline inventories by 750 million liters in the first ten months of the current calendar year (began March 21, 2009) compared to the preceding year. It is estimated that the amount would rise to 2.5 billion liters by March 2010. -MNA - 1/22/10
Iran's Lavan refinery produces one million liters of gasoline per day Iran needs to import 22 million liters of gasoline and nine million liters of gas oil per day to meet its domestic demand. Domestic refineries produce some 44 million liters of gasoline and 87 million liters of gas oil per day. -MNA - 1/17/10
Photos: Fires In Iran's Maroon Field Brought Under Control; Oil Spill Impact Unknown According to a report by Mehr News Agency, the fires at Iran's Maroon oil field located in southwestern province of Khuzestan have been brought under control. On January 2nd, Iran's Oil Ministry reported an accidental release of oil and gas at the Maroon field, one of the largest in Iran with 500,000 barrels a day output. It is said that 50,000 barrels of oil spilled into Jarrahi River as a result of the incident. - 1/10/10
Turkmen Gas Exports To Iran A Boon For Both Countries Turkmenistan and Iran have opened a new natural-gas pipeline to much fanfare, but considering its relatively modest capacity, the ribbon-cutting ceremony might have more political significance than anything. -Bruce Pannier, RFE/RL - 1/6/10
Iran Shielding Its Nuclear Efforts in Maze of Tunnels Last September, when Iran's uranium enrichment plant buried inside a mountain near the holy city of Qum was revealed, the episode cast light on a wider pattern: Over the past decade, Iran has quietly hidden an increasingly large part of its atomic complex in networks of tunnels and bunkers across the country. -New York Times - 1/6/10
Iran: Parliament, Oil Minister Discuss Ways to Counter Possible Gasoline Sanctions Majlis lawmakers held a meeting with Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi behind closed doors on Sunday. A lawmaker who refused to be named said ways to counter a possible gasoline sanctions against Iran were discussed in the closed-door meeting. -MNA - 1/3/10
Iraqi and Iranian forces in oil well standoff Iraqi and Iranian forces are dug in on either side of a disputed inactive oil well in the sensitive border area, with Iraqis vowing to fight if necessary to fend off another occupation of the well by Iranian soldiers. -Reuters - 12/26/09
Iran, Iraq FMs discuss oil well misunderstanding Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari have stressed the importance of establishing an arbitration commission to settle the dispute over the ownership of an oil well located on their shared border. -MNA - 12/20/09
Iraq Says Iranian Troops Withdrawn from Oil Well, Still in Iraq Iraqi officials say Iranian troops have withdrawn from a disputed oil well on their border, but remain on Iraqi territory. -VOA - 12/20/09
Iran rejects reports of oil well seizure in Iraq Iran rejects reports that its forces have taken over an oil well within Iraqi borders, while a Baghdad official admits the site is in a disputed border area. Iran's Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi-Qomi has also described the reports as a futile campaign to harm Tehran-Baghdad ties. -Press TV - 12/19/09
US Signs Nuclear Deal with UAE The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a landmark agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation. The new deal, which was finalized Thursday, allows the United Arab Emirates to receive sensitive information and materials from the United States to help create the Arab world's first civilian nuclear power industry. -VOA - 12/18/09
Iraq Says Iranians Cross Into Disputed Oil Field Iranian soldiers crossed into Iraqi territory today and took up positions at a southern oil field whose ownership is disputed by Iran, a senior Iraqi official said. -Reuters - 12/18/09
US Lawmakers Approve Sanctions Measure Against Iran US lawmakers have criticized Iran's government for continuing its uranium enrichment program as House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation that, if passed by full Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, would expand existing sanctions targeting Iran's refined petroleum infrastructure. -VOA - 12/16/09
U.S. House Passes Iran Gasoline Sanctions Bill The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help supply gasoline to Iran, a move lawmakers hope will deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program. -Reuters - 12/16/09
3rd well drilled in Kish gas field Iran has drilled the third exploration well in the Kish gas field, at a depth of some 4,050 meters into the Persian Gulf waters. The drilling operation was conducted in eight months, the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network reported. - 12/14/09
Iran eyes $85 billion investment to up gas exports Iran, which has the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, seeks to invest 85 billion dollars within a decade to bolster gas exports, Kayhan International newspaper reported on Sunday. -AFP - 12/14/09
Iran ready to exchange nuclear fuel on Kish Island Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has disputed the Western claims that Iran has rejected the proposal to exchange its low-enriched uranium for 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor. Mottaki said Iran is ready to exchange 400 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. -MNA - 12/12/09
Iraq seeks stronger Iran presence in energy sector Iraqi Electricity Minister Kareem Waheed called for Iranian private sector to participate more actively in Iraq's energy projects. - 12/12/09
Iran: Falling Energy Investment Threat A recent study in Iran has shown that the country is in dire need of investment in its energy industry, without which it may suffer grave consequences. A leading official think-tank affiliated to Iran's parliament, the Majlis Research Centre, issued a report in October 2009 saying that Iran needed at least 4.5 billion US dollars of investment in its energy industry. - 12/10/09
Gas Exporting Countries Forum opens in Qatar Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) 9th ministerial meeting opened Wednesday morning in Doha, Qatar. Stabilizing natural gas prices in 2010 and appointment of the forum's Secretary General are the key discussions of the meeting. - 12/10/09
Russia to Help India Build 4 Nuclear Reactors Indian PM Manmohan Singh says Russia will help his country build 4 new nuclear power plants. Mr. Singh made the announcement after meetings in Moscow with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. - 12/8/09
Iranian Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act Hurts Iranian People, Undermines International Unity on Iran The National Iranian American Council is deeply concerned that the House of Representatives' plan to bring H.R. 2194, the Iranian Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA), to a vote the week of December 14, 2009 is a move in the direction of punishing the Iranian people instead of the Iranian government - 12/7/09
Iran to drill Caspian Sea for oil soon Iran is to start exploration drillings in the Caspian Sea by the end of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2010), an official at Khazar Exploration and Production Co. (KEPCO) says. - 12/7/09
Russia to join IPI Peace Pipeline construction: Gazprom Rep Russia has signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with India and Pakistan to join construction of Peace Pipeline in the two countries, said Russian state-owned gas producer Gazprom representative to Tehran. - 12/5/09
NIOC World's 2nd Largest Oil Company: Report National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) ranked the second in the list of the world's 50 largest oil companies published by Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW). The PIW's ranking is based on operational data from over 130 firms. - 12/2/09
Iran crude exports may stop if embargo continues Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi warned the world powers Iran may stop exporting crude oil if they continue economic sanctions on the country. - 12/1/09
Iran Successfully Tests Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant "A 250 bar (atmospheric) pressure test has been successfully carried out at the Bushehr nuclear plant," Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Mohammad Ali Salehi said at a press conference with visiting Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko in Tehran. - 12/1/09
What Iran Is Losing To Get Nuclear Energy? Oil: Iranian economy depends on oil exports. However, Iran's oil industry is a house of cards. It is neglected, crumbling and underinvested. Many of its oil and gas fields are in dire need of foreign technical expertise. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 12/1/09
Russia, Iran Agree on New Gas, Oil Projects The Russian energy minister and officials from the Iranian Oil Ministry have agreed on a gas swap, the implementation of 15 new oil and gas projects, the construction of a oil refinery near the Caspian Sea, and the establishment a joint oil company. - 11/30/09
Iran set to construct ten new enrichment plants Days after a new resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog called on Iran to halt the construction of its Fordo enrichment plant, the Iranian government tasks the Atomic Energy Organization (AEO) with building ten more nuclear enrichment sites. - 11/29/09
Iran, India to launch new round of energy talks An Iranian delegation traveled to New Delhi on Sunday to review expanding energy ties with that country. The Iranian delegation is headed by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Managing Director, Seifollah Jashnsaz, SHANA news agency reported. - 11/29/09
Iran, China Agree on $6.5B Oil Refinery Project The Chinese refiner Sinopec has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company to invest $6.5 billion for building oil refineries in Iran. - 11/25/09
Iran and Nabucco The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline from Caspian and the Middle East region to Turkey and finally to Austria. The aim of this pipeline is diversifying the current natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe. The project is backed by several European states and the United States. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 11/23/09
Iran 3rd Major Oil Supplier of China Iran was the third major oil supplier of China in the month of October, during which some 1,646,000 tons of crude oil was exported, SHANA news agency reported - 11/23/09
Iran, Kuwait Gas Talks Underway Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi and Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah met in Tehran on Sunday to discuss energy ties focusing on the development of Arash joint gas field. - 11/22/09
Russian Officials' Remarks on Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant "Are Odd" The Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee chairman has said that Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko's remarks about the Bushehr nuclear power plant are strange. "The hasty remarks by the Russians do not seem normal," MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi told the Mehr News Agency on Tuesday. - 11/17/09
Iranian FM, Indian PM discuss gas pipeline project Recently India announced its willingness to join the project which Iran calls the peace pipeline project. India withdrew from the talks last year, citing disagreements about prices and transit fees as well as chronic disputes with Pakistan. In talks with Mottaki on Monday, Singh said India is willing to go ahead with the gas pipeline project. - 11/17/09
Russia Delays Launch of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Plant, Again After skirting around the delivery of the S-300 air defense system to Tehran, Russia says it is also running late on the launch of a nuclear plant in southeastern Iran. - 11/16/09
Armenia 'Honoring' Gas Deal With Iran Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian says that despite complaints by Iranian officials Yerevan is fully complying with an agreement to import natural gas from Iran, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. - 11/16/09
Russian Gas: Pipelines, Politics and Money Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine he will cut off the country's gas supplies if it siphons fuel from export lines. Mr. Putin made the statement in Moscow following a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann. His warning carries an implicit threat that Europeans this winter could again face shortages of gas they receive from Russia via pipelines that go through Ukraine. - 11/12/09
International Energy Agency Predicts Natural Gas Prices To Fall Global gas markets have evolved from a seller’s market, driven by tight supply and demand, to a buyer’s market as demand weakens while new supply comes on stream. - 11/10/09
GECF experts hold 3rd meeting in Qatar Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) experts held the 3rd executive committee meeting in Qatar on Monday. GECF ministerial meeting will be held in December in Qatar to pick the Secretary General. Iran has offered to assume the responsibility. - 11/9/09
Iran to share power with Russia, Persian Gulf states Iran plans to connect its national power grid with Russia and the Persian Gulf states, energy ministry caretaker said in Tehran on Saturday. - 11/7/09
Russia's Gazprom inks MOU for development of Iran's Azar oilfield Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDCO) and Russia's Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding for development of Azar oilfield, west of Iran. - 11/2/09
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