China steady on Iran oilfields, to ditch South Pars project: Report

- China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has decided to continue investing in two major Iranian oilfields but suspend investment in the South Pars natural gas project, Reuters claimed on Wednesday. CNPC convinced the US to continue investing in the North Azadegan and Masjid-i-Suleiman (MIS) oilfields, the news agency quoted two unidentified Chinese sources as saying. -Press TV - 12/12/18

Despite Sanctions, India Manages To Import Iranian Oil

- Despite the ongoing U.S. sanctions on Iran, India continues to be one of the chief importers of Iranian oil. Indeed, the state owned petrochemical corporation Indian Oil is set to import up to 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in December. That is more than 20 percent of current Iranian oil exports. -Radio Farda - 12/5/18

No oil will go through Persian Gulf if US targets Iran's crude exports: President Rouhani

- President Hassan Rouhani has reaffirmed that the United States will not be able to stop Iran's oil sales, warning that no crude will find its way out of the Persian Gulf should Washington attempt to target Iranian crude exports. - 12/4/18

The Future Of Iran's Oil And Gas Sector

- At first glance, it seems that rising oil prices (33 percent growth in 2018) and low production costs can still generate petrodollars for Iran, even though its exports have declined by 40 percent to around 1.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) since the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal and announced the reimposition of sanctions in May. -Radio Farda - 11/8/18

A Marriage of Convenience Between Natural Gas Giants Iran and Russia

- Iran's substantial natural gas reserves provide Russia with a significant strategic opportunity to solidify its role in the international arena. Although US secondary sanctions against Iran's petroleum sector resumed on November 5, Russia will most likely defy them by continuing to invest in Iran's natural gas sector. -Atlantic Council - 11/5/18

US to Grant Waivers to Some Countries Importing Iran Oil

- The United States says it plans to issue temporary waivers to several countries, allowing them to continue purchasing Iranian oil without being subject to forthcoming U.S. sanctions. Sanctions on Iran are expected to be reinstated Monday, the result of U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal earlier this year from the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers. Any country importing Iranian oil that does not receive a waiver will be subject to U.S. financial penalties. -William Gallo, VOA - 11/3/18

Iran Ranks First On Energy Subsidies Globally

- With spending $45.1 billion on fossil energy consumption subsidies in 2017, Iran ranked first globally, International Energy Agency reported Oct.29. The value, which increased 55% year-on-year, equals to 10.4% of Iran's annual GDP and 15% of total global energy subsidies. -Radio Farda - 11/2/18

White House Hints At Easing Of Iran Sanctions For 'Friends And Allies'

- U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton says the White House wants sanctions on Iran's oil sector to put a strain on Iran's economy, but it does not want to harm "friends and allies" that depend on the oil. -RFE/RL - 11/1/18

China, India Reported Set To Keep Buying Iranian Oil As U.S. Sanctions Loom

- With just days to go before U.S. sanctions take effect on Iran's oil sector on November 5, Tehran's top two customers - India and China -- are resisting Washington's call to reduce purchases to zero, arguing there are not sufficient supplies worldwide to replace them, media are reporting. -RFE/RL - 10/30/18

High Prices Helping Iran Make Up For Loss Of Half Of Oil Exports: VP Eshaq Jahangiri

- Iran has lost some customers for its oil because of looming U.S. sanctions, but high prices are making up for the lost sales, Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has said. "While some countries have stopped buying oil from Iran, we have found new partners," he was quoted as saying by Iran's IRIB broadcaster on October 15. -RFE/RL - 10/16/18

Iran finds creative ways to thwart new US sanctions

- A vessel carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian oil was reported on Tuesday to have discharged the crude into a bonded storage tank at the port of Dalian in northeast China. Keeping oil in bonded storage gives the shipment owner the option to sell into China or to other buyers in the region, Reuters news agency reported. -Press TV - 10/11/18

U.S. marks first retreat on Iran sanctions by allowing Rhum gasfield to operate

- The US administration has beaten its first retreat on planned sanctions against Iran, allowing a gasfield partly owned by the Islamic Republic in the North Sea to keep operating. The Rhum field northeast of Aberdeen, which supplies around 5 percent of Britain's gas demand, has now received a new operation license from the US Treasury, UK-listed producer Serica Energy said on Tuesday. - 10/9/18

India defies U.S., continues buying Iranian oil despite sanctions

- India is going to continue buying Iranian oil in November despite the U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported citing sources close to the Indian oil industry. "Refiners have placed November nominations to lift 1.25 million tons (about 9 million barrels) of oil from Iran," Reuters quoted a source as saying. - 10/8/18

'India to buy Iran's oil despite US sanctions': Minister of External Affairs

- India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj says her country will continue to purchase Iran's oil despite sanctions re-imposed by the US on Iran. In a meeting with her Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, Swaraj said India views Iran not only as a good neighbor but also a good friend. - 9/27/18

India Continues With Iran Oil Deliveries

- India is allowing state refiners to import Iranian oil with Tehran arranging tankers and insurance after firms including the country's top shipper Shipping Corp of India (SCI) halted voyages to Iran due to U.S. sanctions, Reuters cited sources as saying on August 3. - 9/5/18

Iran: Total has officially withdrawn from South Pars gas project

- Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh says French energy giant Total has officially left the country, ending speculations over whether it would stay to finish a gas project following the return of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic. - 8/20/18

Iran Offers Oil Discounts To Keep Asian Customers

- An official at the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has told state-run news agency, IRNA, that the company was reducing its prices for September sales to Asia to their lowest level in 14 years, compared with Saudi crude. The discount has been offered at a time that the second batch of renewed US sanctions, targeting Iran's oil exports, is scheduled to be implemented on November 4. - 8/14/18

In blow to Trump, China rejects US request to cut Iran oil imports

- China has rejected a US demand to cut Iranian oil imports despite Washington's attempts to bring down the Islamic Republic's oil sales to zero, Bloomberg reports. The financial news provider quoted informed officials on Friday as saying that the US had been unable to persuade China to cut Iranian oil imports and that Beijing's purchases from Tehran last month remained unchanged. - 8/3/18

1000km of gas pipelines to join Iran's national network by March 2019

- Some 1000 kilometers of new gas transferring pipelines will be connected to the national network of the country by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2019), according to the managing director of Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company. - 7/27/18

Iran, Russia step up energy ties amid West's sanctions

- Russia and Iran have discussed energy cooperation between the two countries and through OPEC as part of their efforts to blunt the impact of Western sanctions. According to Russia's Energy Ministry, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak met in Moscow and discussed the possibility of Russian oil companies taking part in projects in Iran. - 7/24/18

Khamenei Supports Blocking Region's Oil Exports If Iran's Exports Stopped

- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 21 backed President Hassan Rohani's suggestion that Iran may block oil exports from the Persian Gulf if its own exports are stopped. Khamenei's website said Khamenei supported Rohani's statement earlier in July that "if Iran's oil is not exported, no regional country's oil will be exported." - 7/21/18

Japan To Suspend Imports Of Iranian Oil In Light Of Reimposed Sanctions

- Japan is preparing to suspend its crude oil imports from Iran to comply with U.S. demands that are reinforced with threats of sanctions against companies that don't adhere to them. As a result, Japan's Iranian oil imports are expected to plunge to zero as soon as October. - 7/20/18

Iranian Officials Revisit 'Oil For Goods' Scheme As Way Around U.S. Sanctions

- Following Russia's lead, EU leaders are exploring the possibility of circumventing U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil sales by trading oil for goods instead of purchasing it, according to Iranian officials. The deputy chairman of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture, Pedram Soltani, said on July 17 that exchanging oil for goods could be one way of getting around the U.S. sanctions re-imposed after the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal in May. - 7/20/18

Fire At Iranian Oil Refinery in Abadan Kills One, Injures 18

- A fire at an oil refinery in the Iranian city of Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan Province has killed one person and injured 18. A report by Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency on June 28 said that the Abadan petrochemical complex caught fire at midnight on June 27 and that 10 of the injured were transferred to a hospital. - 6/29/18

Turkey Says Won't Honor U.S. Demand To Stop Buying Iran's Oil

- Turkey has said that it does not plan to honor a U.S. call for countries to stop importing oil from Iran, calling the demand "not binding" on Ankara. "We will follow if there are decisions, sanctions by the United Nations on this issue. Other than this, we will only follow our own interests," Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said. - 6/28/18

US to World Companies: Cut Iran Oil Imports or Face Sanctions

- A senior State Department official has told reporters the United States expects companies all over the world to cut their crude oil imports from Iran to zero by November 4 or face U.S. sanctions. The State Department official said he had been meeting with European diplomats to convey the message that the Trump administration is serious about enforcing new sanctions on trade with Iran since President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in May. -Cindy Saine, VOA - 6/27/18

Iran Rejects Russian, Saudi Plan To Raise Oil Output, Rein In Prices

- Iran has rejected a plan by Russia and Saudi Arabia to increase oil production at a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel this week in response to consumer disgruntlement with rising prices. "I don't believe at this meeting we can reach agreement," Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told reporters after arriving in Vienna, where OPEC is headquartered, on June 19. - 6/20/18

European Refineries Curtailing Oil Purchases From Iran

- Following the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to leave the nuclear deal with Iran, European refineries have started to reduce purchases of Iranian oil. On May 8, Trump announced that his administration was withdrawing from the deal and re-imposing the old sanctions on Tehran. - 6/7/18

Iran, Iraq start strategic oil swap scheme

- Iran says it has started exchanging crude oil with Iraq through a strategic project which is believed to open a new route for Baghdad to export its oil. Iran's Ministry of Petroleum announced that road tankers carrying oil from Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk had crossed Iran's border and were already delivering oil to reserves in the western Province of Ilam. - 6/4/18

Major Russian, Indian Energy Firms Reportedly Moving To Pull Out Of Iran

- The threat of U.S. sanctions has prompted Russian oil giant Lukoil to put its plans to develop projects in Iran on hold while the Indian company that owns the world's largest oil refining complex plans to stop buying oil from Iran, Reuters reported on May 30. -RFE/RL - 5/31/18

Iran Signs Oil Deal With British Group, First Since U.S. Resumed Sanctions

- Iran has signed an agreement with a British consortium to develop an oil field, in the first such deal with a Western firm since Washington announced it would exit the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran. The National Iranian South Oil Company signed an agreement with the London-based Pergas consortium to produce 655 million barrels of oil from the Keranj field in southwestern Iran in the next 10 years, Iran's Oil Ministry said on May 17 through its Shana news service. - 5/18/18

Traders Look To Replace Iranian Crude Oil As Sanctions Loom Again

- Buyers of Iran's crude oil are winding down their business with the Islamic Republic after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimpose sanctions. - 5/11/18

China Reassures Tehran On Honoring Nuclear Deal, Buying Iranian Oil

- China has said that it remains committed to Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and assured Tehran that it will continue buying nearly one-third of Iranian oil exports. "We express regret over this decision made by the United States," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. He said that China wanted to "ensure the integrity and sanctity" of a pact that Beijing believes was important for curbing nuclear proliferation and promoting stability in the Middle East. - 5/10/18

TOTAL's Gas Deal Scuttled By U.S. Withdrawal From Iran Nuclear Accords

- Billions of dollars in business deals between Iran and European companies inked after the 2015 nuclear agreement lifted sanctions on the Islamic Republic are now in jeopardy after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement May 8. The U.S. Treasury Department has said it will reinstate restrictions on companies doing business with Iran in the oil and banking sectors after 90 and 180-day grace periods respectively. - 5/10/18

Oil Prices Highest Since 2014 Ahead Of Trump's Iran Decision

- Oil prices surged to their highest levels since November 2014 as investors braced for U.S. President Donald Trump's decision on whether to withdraw from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers. Fears that the United States will reimpose sanctions that were lifted in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear activities in 2016 sent premium crude prices above $70 a barrel in New York trading on May 7 for the first time since November 2014. - 5/8/18

Russia's Rosatom begins work at phase 2 of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant

- Russia has begun "soil stabilization" work on the site of Phase 2 of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran, Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom has said. "On 3 May 2018, soil stabilization works under the reactor building of power unit No 2 commenced at Bushehr-2 NPP construction site," the agency said on its website on Thursday. - 5/4/18

Iran Offers Turkmenistan New Gas-Swap Deal To Pakistan

- Iran has made a surprise offer to Turkmenistan that officials in Ashgabat might find difficult to reject. The head the National Iranian Oil Company, Hamidreza Araqi, said on April 29 that Iran was prepared enter into a gas-swap deal that would transfer Turkmen gas to Pakistan. Turkmenistan is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis since the country became independent in late 1991, and the Turkmen government has been desperately seeking new export routes for its major export: natural gas. -Bruce Pannier, RFE/RL - 5/1/18

Blackouts On The Way, Warns Iran's Energy Minister

- Power outages are inevitable next summer across Iran, the country's energy minister has warned. "Since the volume of water behind the dams is significantly lower than usual, if residents do not decrease electricity consumption, power cuts will be inevitable across the country," Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian announced on April 8. - 4/10/18

Russia to invest $50 billion in Iran oil, gas: Official

- Russian investment in developing Iran's oil and gas fields could total more than $50 billion, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov has said. "Energy is the most promising sphere for cooperation between Russia and Iran. Leading Russian oil and gas companies such as Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Rosneft, Lukoil, Zarubezhneft and Tatneft are systemically working on development of fields in Iran. The expected amount of investments is over $50 billion," he told reporters in Moscow Monday. - 4/5/18

Natural gas: An underrated driver of Saudi hostility towards Iran and Qatar

- Debilitating hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran is about lots of things, not least who will have the upper hand in a swath of land stretching from Central Asia to the Atlantic coast of Africa. While attention is focused on ensuring that continued containment of Iran ensures that Saudi Arabia has a leg up, geopolitics is but one side of the equation. Natural gas is the other. -James M. Dorsey - 3/28/18

Total says committed to its contract with Iran

- French energy giant Total says it is fully committed to the development of an Iranian gas field, adding the firm will seek a waiver if the US decides to unilaterally pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. - 3/19/18

Iran Signs $4 Billion Oil Deal With Russian Firm

- Iran has signed a $742 million deal with Russian state-owned energy firm Zarubezhneft to boost production at two oil fields in the country's west. Zarubezhneft and Dana Energy, a private Iranian company, will jointly develop the Aban and Paydar fields in Ilam province near the Iraqi border, to boost production from 36,000 to 48,000 barrels of oil per day. - 3/15/18

Iran Stops Flaring Gas Worth Millions Of Dollars

- Iran inaugurated a gas processing complex on Wednesday, February 28, that will help the country to stop flaring gas worth of million of dollars. According to Iranian officials, the complex of Hengam Oilfield in Qeshm island located in southern Iran can process 827 million cubic meters per day of natural gas which was previously flared. - 3/4/18

EU ready to negotiate Iran's joining Southern Gas Corridor initiative

- European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said EU is ready to discuss Iran's joining to the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) with all partners of the project, IRNA reported on Thursday. The Southern Gas Corridor is an initiative of the European Commission for the natural gas supply from Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe. - 2/17/18

Total CEO: Iran's South Pars gas project 'progressing well' despite Trump's threats

- Total's work on the South Pars gas project is well on track despite US threats of new sanctions on Iran, the French oil and gas group's Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne says. Pouyanne told Le Monde newspaper on Tuesday that Total was consulting with French and European authorities over protecting its investments in Iran, in case there was a resumption of sanctions. - 2/7/18

Iran 10-month crude output up 165kbd: Oil Minister

- Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says the country's petroleum output has increased by 165,000 b/d in the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year which began on March 21 compared to the same period last year. Addressing a press conference here in Tehran on Sunday, the official said Iran's crude exports have also increased by 60,000 b/d in the period year-on-year, Iran's oil ministry website SHANA reported on Sunday. - 2/5/18

Iran wins Energy Globe World Award 2017 in water category

- Iran secured the first place in Energy Globe World Awards 2017 in the category of water here on Tuesday. Beating the other two finalists, the Philippines and Singapore, Iran jointly with Sri Lanka won the event's top prize in the mentioned category. The Energy Globe Award was founded in 1999 by the Austrian energy pioneer Wolfgang Neumann and is one of today's most prestigious environmental awards. - 1/19/18

Huge Oil Spill After Iranian Tanker Sinks In East China Sea

- Chinese ships are racing to clean up a massive oil spill after an Iranian tanker sank in the East China Sea. The Sanchi's crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis are all believed to have perished in the incident. - 1/16/18

Stricken Iranian Oil Tanker Sinks, 'No Hope' Of Finding Survivors

- A stricken Iranian oil tanker that was burning for more than a week following a collision with a Chinese cargo ship in the East China Sea has sunk after drifting into the waters of Japan's economic exclusion zone. Chinese state television reports that the ship sank shortly after another portion of its cargo "suddenly ignited" at about noon local time on January 14. - 1/14/18

Iran's Vulnerable Energy Supply And The Protests

- Unlike early 2017, when Iran's energy industry started a year full of hope and prospects of potential growth, 2018 has started with different potential risks targeting its energy industry and production growth. Risks abound, particularly the prospect of additional sanctions and domestic instability. -Sara Vakhshouri, LobeLog - 1/10/18

China: Explosion occurs aboard burning Iran oil tanker

- China's Transport Ministry has reported an explosion aboard the Iranian oil tanker that collided with a cargo ship off the Asian country's coast on Saturday. The ministry said in a statement that the explosion occurred at around 13:35 Beijing time on Wednesday after rescue crew tried to spray foam to put out the blaze. - 1/10/18

Iran and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline

- Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCP) is a project to transport natural gas through a submerged pipeline in the Caspian seabed from Turkmenistan and partly from Kazakhstan to Baku in Azerbaijan and eventually to Europe, circumventing Russia and Iran. Turkmenistan has one of the biggest gas resources in the world, the third biggest after Russia and Iran. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 1/8/18

Iranian Oil Tanker At Risk Of Exploding, 32 Crew Still Missing

- Chinese state media reports that an Iranian oil tanker which caught fire after colliding with a freighter off China's east coast is at risk of exploding and sinking. Personnel from three countries were working on January 8 to find the tanker's 32 missing crew members and contain oil spewing from the blazing wreck. - 1/8/18

Iraq Says Oil Deliveries From Kirkuk To Iran Will Start In January

- Iraq's oil minister says the country will start exporting oil to Iran from its northern Kirkuk oil fields by the end of January. Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on January 7 that about 30,000 barrels per day will be trucked to Iran's Kermanshah refinery in the first set of shipments. The deliveries are to be made under a swap agreement announced in December by both countries. - 1/7/18

32 missing after Iranian oil tanker collides with Chinese cargo ship

- An Iranian oil tanker heading to South Korea, collided with a Chinese cargo ship off the coast of east China on Saturday due to which the tanker's 32 crew members went missing. The Sanchi tanker, registered in Panama, collided with the CF Crystal some 160 nautical miles off the coast near Shanghai, Reuters reported on Sunday citing the Chinese Ministry of Transportation. - 1/7/18

Fire put out at Iran's Rag-Sefid oilfield, after 59 days

- Fire in the well No. 147 of Rag-Sefid offshore oilfield in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan Province was put out at Tuesday's night, Shana news agency reported. A blowout occurred at Rag-Sefid oilfield on October 29. The accident happened when drilling operation was ongoing in depth of 2,403 meters in the well No. 147 of the field. It burned the drilling rig and killed two persons working for the National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC). - 12/28/17

Iran's Rag-Sefid oilfield burning since October 29th despite killing operations

- A blowout occurred at Rag-Sefid offshore oilfield in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province on October 29, 2017. The accident happened when drilling operation was ongoing in depth of 2,403 meters in the well No. 147 of the field. It burned the drilling rig and killed two persons working for the National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC). One week after the blowout, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that the blaze would be brought under control within one and half month, but the well is still burning after 58 days. - 12/26/17

China eyeing take over of Iran gas project if France's Total pulls out

- Speculations are rising that China's leading oil and gas company CNPC could replace French energy giant Total in a key Iranian natural gas project if any new US sanctions against investments in Iran's economic projects forces it to leave the country. Reuters in an exclusive report said CNPC had already started talks with Iran over a share of 30 percent in the project to develop Phase 11 of Iran's South Pars gas field - the world's biggest independent gas field. - 12/15/17

Iran says supplies to Iraq pushed gas exports up 64 percent

- Iran says its exports of natural gas saw a huge rise over a period of five months starting 21 March 201 in what it says was a result of rising supplies to its western neighbor Iraq. Behzad Babazadeh, the director for international affairs of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), was quoted by the domestic media as saying that the country had exported as much as 50 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of gas over the aforementioned period that marks the first five months after the start of the new Iranian calendar year. - 12/13/17

Iran acquires technology to produce nuclear batteries: AEOI advisor

- Iran has acquired the technology to produce nuclear batteries to be used in health and industrial sectors, an advisor to head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says. Asghar Zare'an, who is an advisor to Ali Akbar Salehi, said on Sunday that Iran was the fifth country mastering the technology to produce nuclear batteries after the United States, Russia, France and Britain. - 12/4/17

U.S. firms "main losers" of sanctions: Iran's Oil Minister

- Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said U.S. energy firms are the main losers from the sanctions placed against his country. Speaking at the 173 OPEC meeting in Vienna on Thursday, Zanganeh called U.S.'s policy confusing and self-defeating, CNBC reported. - 12/2/17

Gas Exporting Countries Blast US Use Of Sanctions As Weapon

- Gas exporting countries have condemned the use of sanctions as a weapon against other nations, in an apparent jab at the United States. The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), which has 12 members in the likes of Iran, Russia and Qatar, issued a communique at the end of their summit in Bolivia on Friday. - 11/26/17

Iraq in talks to export Kirkuk oil to Iranian refinery

- Iran and Iraq have reportedly started talks over the shipment of crude oil from the fields around Kirkuk to the Kermanshah refinery inside the Iranian territory. Reports quoted Alaa al-Mussawi, the director of Iraq's state-oil marketer State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), as saying in a statement that the Kermanshah refinery would be supplied with 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Kirkuk fields. - 11/8/17

France's Total to comply with any US sanctions on Iran: CEO

- Total says it has opened an office in Washington to coordinate its operations in Iran where the French oil and gas major plans to develop Phase 11 of the giant South Pars gas field. Total was the first Western energy firm to sign a major deal, worth $4.8 billion, with Iran after sanctions were lifted on the Islamic Revolution in 2016 under a nuclear agreement. However, US President Donald Trump's refusal last month to endorse the nuclear agreement with Iran and his threat to levy new sanctions on the country has thrown the future of the deal into doubt. - 11/4/17

Iran starts construction of two new nuclear power plants in Bushehr

- Iran has started the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the southern province of Bushehr in a joint project with Russia's Rosatom energy firm. In an agreement between the senior officials of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and Rosatom, phases two and three of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant will begin supplying electricity to Iran's power grid in 10 years. - 11/2/17

United States blocks Iran from fusion megaproject

- The Iran nuclear deal was meant to usher in a new era of science cooperation between the Islamic republic and other parties to the landmark agreement, which deters the country from pursuing nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief. But nearly 2 years after implementation began, few projects are underway. And Science has learned that the United States has frozen Iran out of a collaboration that the deal expressly brokered: ITER, the multibillion-dollar fusion experiment in France.-Richard Stone, Science Magazine - 11/2/17

Iran Rejects Turkmen Proposal For Gas Shipments To Turkey

- Energy politics around the Caspian Sea breeds complications, as a recent example involving Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia reminds us. Turkmenistan is in a serious bind. The country has the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in the world but currently has only one customer -- China -- at a time when Turkmenistan's economy appears to be spiraling downward. -Bruce Pannier, RFE/RL - 10/31/17

Russia looking into piping gas from Iran to Pakistan, India

- Russia says it is studying a plan to export natural gas to Pakistan and India through Iran in ambitious project that would involve laying an offshore pipeline. Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper in a report said Russia was proceeding with the project out of concerns that it could lose Europe's gas market as a result of disputes with the United States and the European Union. - 10/31/17

Several killed in Tehran Refinery tower fire

- At least six people died and several wounded in a fire accident at Tehran Refinery south of the Iranian capital. The incident occurred when a group of engineers and technicians who were providing overhaul operations were caught in a blaze at the top of a distillation tower. - 10/28/17

Iran's oil exports to China up 59 percent in September

- The latest market figures show that Iran's exports of crude oil to China in September saw a whopping increase of 59 percent compared to the same period last year. Figures released by Reuters showed that Iran exported as much as 3.22 million tonnes - or 784,000 barrels per day (bpd) - to Asia's largest and world's second top consumer last month. - 10/25/17

Iran says markets unfazed by Trump's threats

- Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh says global oil markets have remained unfazed by the recent positions of US President Donald Trump against Iran's nuclear deal which the United States and five other states sealed in 2015. - 10/23/17

Warming Uzbek-Iranian Relations Worth Watching

- A recent meeting of officials from Uzbekistan and Iran was a curious event. Central Asia has seen a reshuffling of relations over the past couple years, and improved relations between Tashkent and Tehran is one of the more intriguing developments. -Bruce Pannier - 10/20/17

Total CEO says to move ahead with key Iran project

- French oil and gas major Total says it will try to push ahead with an Iranian gas project if the US decides to impose unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The announcement was made by Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne in an interview with International Oil Daily. - 10/19/17

Iranian Minister Says Ready To Do Business With U.S. Oil Companies

- Iran is ready to do business with American oil companies even though the United States still prohibits them from operating in the country, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has said. "American companies can come to Iran and benefit so [U.S. President Donald Trump] won't be upset," Zanganeh said, according to SHANA, the news site of the Iranian Oil Ministry. - 10/18/17

Norway Defies Trump, Enters 4-Billion-Dollar Deal With Iran

- Norwegian solar company Saga Energy has signed a $4-billion investment deal with Iran just days after US President Donald Trump calls for isolating Tehran. "Norway is fully committed to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and this is proof that we have taken the opening very seriously, and we will see more investment very soon," AFP quoted Norway's Ambassador to Tehran Lars Nordrum on Tuesday. - 10/18/17