Oil Prices Plunge As Saudi-Iran Split On Output Freeze Resurfaces

- Oil prices plunged anew as signs of discord reemerged between Iran and Saudi Arabia over an oil production freeze being pushed by the Saudis and Russia. At a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in Algeria on September 27, Iran rejected an offer by the Saudis to cut their oil production if Tehran agreed to freeze its output at its current level of 3.6 million barrels a day, OPEC officials said. - 9/28/16

Iran's gas exports up 3.4% in first half of 2016

- Iran's gas exports reached near 4 billion cubic meters in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21), registering a 3.4 percent rise compared to the same period in the preceding year, Shana quoted a gas official as saying on Tuesday. - 9/28/16

Saudis offer oil production cut deal if Iran freezes output

- Saudi Arabia has reportedly announced that it is ready to reduce its oil production provided that Iran agrees to cap its own output over the remaining months to the end of 2016. Reuters has quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Saudi offer, which is yet to be accepted or rejected, was presented to Tehran earlier this month. - 9/24/16

Iran parliament endorses new oil contract

- Iran's parliament has given the go-ahead to the government to put a new oil contract model into effect, the Ministry of Petroleum's Shana news agency reported on Saturday. The new formula, which has drawn criticism from some politicians and experts, was reviewed by a parliamentary panel but not voted by lawmakers. - 9/17/16

UK blocks Iran's gas revenues over sanctions

- The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says Britain has blocked the revenues it has been paid from selling the natural gas of a field it jointly owns with BP in the North Sea. - 9/15/16

4 injured as fire breaks out at petrochemical plant in southern Iran

- Fire has erupted at a petrochemical plant in the southern Iranian province of Bushehr, injuring four people, one of whom is in critical condition. The blaze engulfed the pressure control station at a facility belonging to the Mobin Petrochemical Co. at around 11:00 local time in the province's Asaluyeh County on Wednesday. The incident came in the wake of at least three fires at petrochemical and oil installations in recent months. - 9/14/16

Iran studying Europe gas export plans

- Alireza Kameli, the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC), says Iran is studying various options for exports of natural gas to Europe thus again reviving an ambitious plan that had been previously shelved due to sanctions as well as technical problems. - 9/12/16

Iran, China finalize deal on $1.2b refinery project

- China's Sinopec and Iran's Oil Ministry have finalized an agreement regarding the development project of Iran's Abadan refinery, Mehr news agency reported on Saturday. Based on the report, according to Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for Refining and Distribution of Oil Products Abbas Kazemi, the first phase of the $1.2 billion project will start in the near future. - 9/12/16

Iran breaks ground on two nuclear power plants to be built with Russian help

- "According to the timetable envisaged, the first and second units will be constructed respectively over 108 and 126 months with the cooperation of Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom)," Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said while attending a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the launch of construction of the two new nuclear power plants. - 9/11/16

Iranian Minister Says Tehran Backs OPEC Moves Toward Stability

- Iran's oil minister says Tehran would support any decision by OPEC that would add stability to the international oil market. Bijan Namdar Zangeneh made his comments on September 6 after talks in Tehran with OPEC head Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Iranian state TV reported. - 9/7/16

Russian President Putin urges compromise on Iran oil production

- Russian President Vladimir Putin has said a potential oil output freeze deal among oil-exporting countries should involve some compromise on Iran's production levels. "I think that from the point of view of economic expediency and logic, it would be right to find some sort of compromise" on the Iranian output level, Putin told Bloomberg. - 9/2/16

Iran to start building two new nuclear plants on September 10: Salehi

- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the Islamic Republic will begin the construction of two nuclear power plants in cooperation with Russia within the next few days. "Operations to build two new nuclear power plants in Bushehr will start on September 10," Ali Akbar Salehi said late Wednesday, adding that it will take 10 years for the power plants to be completed. - 9/1/16

India firm raises Iran oil imports, pays over $500M of debt

- Iran's crude sales to Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has risen four folds, reflecting the country's success in raising exports in order to claw back its market share after the lifting of sanctions. - 8/31/16

Iran draws closer to OPEC's number 2 position

- Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says Iran's oil exports have risen to 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd), bringing the country closer to its former position as the second biggest OPEC producer. "Our crude oil and condensate exports have now reached 2.5 million barrels per day and crude oil (exports) have solely hit 2.1 million barrels per day," Zangeneh told the state television on Monday night. - 8/30/16

Iran, Russia ink oil rig deal worth $1 billion

- Iran's Tasdid Offshore and Onshore Development Company and Russia's OJSC Krasnye Barrikady Shipyard signed a deal worth $1 billion to cooperate in building jack-up rigs in Iran, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday. - 8/29/16

Iran Confirms It Will Join OPEC Talks To Support Oil Prices

- Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh confirmed that Iran will take part in an OPEC meeting next month in Algeria to discuss ways to support global oil prices. Zanganeh's remarks to the ministry's Shana news service on August 25 helped spur a jump in oil prices, with premium crude rising 62 cents to $49.67 a barrel in London trading. - 8/26/16

Iran softens to oil production freeze?

- Iran has been ramping up output since the lifting of sanctions in January to reclaim its lost market share, dismissing demands to join the freeze initiative. On Tuesday, Reuters cited unnamed sources as saying that Iran was sending "positive signals" that it might get behind the push to curb production. - 8/24/16

NIOC, Chinese CNPCI sign new deal on southern Iranian oil field

- Chinese CNPCI has been given a chance to participate Masjed Soleiman oil field recovery rate for the second time after an aborted deal in 2011. - 8/23/16

Iran to award two key oil deals to China

- Gholam-Reza Manouchehri, the deputy director for engineering and development affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has been quoted by the media as saying that China's CNPC will be awarded the development of the second phase of North Azadegan project. Manouchehri added that the second company - Sinopec - will be awarded the development of the second phase of Yadavaran project. - 8/22/16

Iran pitches huge gas reserves for Asia markets

- Iran is pitching its massive gas sector for trade with Asia where it sees a better market for exports than Europe. "Gas prices are more attractive in East Asia than in Europe," Deputy Petroleum Minister for trade and international affairs Amir-Hossein Zamaninia has said. - 8/21/16

Iran to attract $30B for power projects

- Iran's Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian says the country has devised serious plans to overhaul its power industry within the next five years, adding that those plans need a collective investment of $30 billion to be materialized. - 8/12/16

Turkey Says It Wants To Buy More Gas From Iran

- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Ankara wants to buy more natural gas from Iran and that the two sides have discussed pricing issues. - 8/12/16

One Killed, Three Injured In Gas Pipeline Explosion In Southern Iran

- At least one person was killed and three others injured in an Iranian gas pipeline explosion early on August 6 near the town of Genaveh in the southern province of Bushehr, Iranian news agencies reported. - 8/6/16

Iran's South Pars Gas Field: Phase 18 platform installation completed

- The platform 18B of Iran's South Pars gas field was fixed on its jacket in the phase 18 of the giant gas field in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, Shana reported. The operation of loading the 2,300-ton platform from Bandar-Abbas yard was conducted by Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex Co. (ISOICO) on June 23. - 8/4/16

Iranian Cabinet Adopts New Oil-Contract Model To Woo Foreign Investors

- Iran's government has approved a new oil contract model designed to attract foreign investors in its energy industry following the easing of sanctions in January. The contract model was approved at a cabinet meeting on August 3, local media reported. - 8/4/16

Top Oil Market Embraces Iran Once Again as Asia Imports Jump

- The Persian Gulf state boosted exports to major oil consumers in Asia during the first half of this year, after international sanctions that restricted its supplies were eased in January. Japan's purchases increased 28 percent, India bought 63 percent more, South Korea's imports more than doubled while shipments into China gained 2.5 percent during the six months, government and shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show. -Heesu Lee, Bloomberg - 7/28/16

Tehran, Yerevan reach new gas deal

- Iran's oil minister has announced that on the basis of a new agreement between Tehran and Yerevan, Iranian gas will be transferred to Georgia through Armenia. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the visiting Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Levon Yolyan, Iran's Bijan Zanganeh said transit of Iranian gas via Armenia marked the main axis of the session. - 7/26/16

Europeans keen to invest in Iran's renewable energy sector: EWEA Chief

- Giles Dickson, the CEO of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), said that renowned European companies are keen to invest in Iran's renewable energy sector, especially in wind energy sphere. Dickson made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Tehran Times on the sidelines of the 4th Iran Wind Energy Conference which was held in Tehran on Tuesday. - 7/20/16

Iran Plans First Tender to Draw $12 Billion Green Investment

- Iran is planning its first tender for utility-scale renewable-energy projects by year end as it begins a green power build out that could draw $12 billion of investment by the time it's complete. -Bloomberg - 7/17/16

Iran says it has regained 80% of its lost oil market share

- Mohsen Qamsari, the director of international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has told Bloomberg that Iran's success to regain a major share of its lost market has been materialized through the country's ability to export about 2 million barrels of crude oil per day. - 7/12/16

Iran Explores Joining Project To Harness Energy From Nuclear Fusion

- Laban Coblentz, spokesman for the ITER project, told AP that a high-level Iranian delegation led by nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari visited St. Paul Lez Durance in southern France on June 30-July 1, where a fusion-harnessing device is being built. - 7/9/16

Iran plant blaze not act of sabotage: Minister of Petroleum

- Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says a raging blaze at a petrochemical plant in southwest Iran has not been caused as a result of an act of sabotage. The blaze started with an explosion in a key tower of the plant - the tallest in the Middle East. There have also been conflicting reports on the number of casualties. - 7/8/16

Exclusive: As Iran's oil exports surge, international tankers help ship its fuel

- More than 25 European and Asian-owned supertankers are shipping Iranian oil, data seen by Reuters shows, allowing Tehran to ramp up exports much faster than analysts had expected following the lifting of sanctions in January. -Reuters - 6/6/16

Iran sees no deal on oil output freeze: Oil Minister

- Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says Iran will continue to ramp up oil production until it returns to levels before sanctions cut its exports. As he arrived in Vienna ahead of Thursday's meeting of OPEC ministers, Zangeneh said a return to individual producer output quotas is the only way to manage the oil market. - 6/2/16

Oil Prices Soar Over $50 A Barrel For First Time In 2016

- The price of premium crude oil has surged over $50 a barrel for the first time this year in Asian trading, giving a boost to the economies of oil producers from Russia and Kazakhstan to Iran and Iraq. - 5/27/16

Can OPEC Agree on Oil Production Policy?

- The fall in the price of oil from $115/barrel in mid-2014 to $27/barrel this year has had a devastating impact on petro-states all over the world. Whereas the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer and exporter, cut production in the 1980s to raise oil prices, officials in Riyadh have been determined to avoid a repeat of this experience, which cost Saudi Arabia market share. Yet the kingdom has paid a major price for this geopolitically motivated oil production policy... -Alex Stout - 5/26/16

Iran's oil exports at highest level since 2012

- The latest market figures show that oil exports in April reached the highest level in over four years - a yet another indication that the country is regaining the share of the market it lost as a result of the sanctions at a faster pace than expected. - 5/19/16

IMF Warns Iran Not To Rely Only On Oil Revenue To Boost Economy

- A top International Monetary Fund official warned Iran not to count on a big jump in oil revenue to boost its economy, but said it should seek other opportunities to re-engage with the global economy. "I speak here today at a pivotal moment for Iran's economy," said IMF Deputy Managing Director David Lipton in a speech at the Central Bank of Iran on May 17 during a two-day visit to Tehran. - 5/18/16

Saudi Energy Policies Unlikely to Shift Under New Minister

- Saudi Arabia's energy policies are unlikely to change despite the fact that longtime energy minister, Ali al-Naimi, was removed on May 7 and Khalid al-Falih appointed as his successor. -Sara Vakhshouri, LobeLog - 5/11/16

The Viability Of Central-South Asian Energy Projects

- The groundbreaking ceremony for the Central Asia-South Asia electricity transmission project, known as CASA-1000, is scheduled for May 12 in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. The leaders of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan are coming to join Tajik President Emomali Rahmon for the event. -Bruce Pannier, RFE - 5/9/16

Iran backs any move to stabilize oil market: Zangeneh

- Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says Iran will support any initiative to stabilize the oil market after recent talks in Qatar failed to freeze production. Zangeneh told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with his South African counterpart in Tehran on Saturday that the meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha was a "good step." - 4/23/16

Iranian crude output to reach pre-sanctions level by July

- A deputy to the Iranian petroleum minister says the country's crude oil production will reach pre-sanctions levels of 2011 within a couple of months. Tehran has expressed concern over market oversupply and low oil prices but also reiterated its right to regain pre-sanctions market level. - 4/20/16

Oil Price Falls In Asian Trading After Doha Talks Fail

- Russia's Energy Minster Aleksandr Novak said at the end of the April 17 Doha meeting that the Kremlin was not optimistic about an agreement to freeze production because of "heated debates" at the conference and "Iran's position." - 4/18/16

Iran sends OPEC governor to Doha oil freeze talks

- Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh will not attend upcoming talks between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha to find a solution to tumbling oil prices, but will send Iran's OPEC governor to the meeting. - 4/16/16

India vows to invest $20bn in development of Iran's Chabahar port

- India says it is ready to invest $20 billion in the development of Iran's southeastern Chabahar port - a move that would enable New Delhi to dodge Pakistan and establish a strategic connectivity to Afghanistan as well as the Central Asia - 4/11/16

Norway to launch Iran's first FLNG plan

- Iran says it is working on a plan with a Norwegian company to build a floating facility to liquefy natural gas in the Persian Gulf. NIOC chief Rokneddin Javadi said last October that LNG has returned to Iran's energy agenda, stressing that the country has devised serious plans to launch its first liquefaction project by April 2018. - 4/8/16

Russia, OPEC Said Likely To Freeze Oil Output Without Iran

- Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can reach an agreement to freeze oil production, even if Iran doesn't join in, a top OPEC official told Bloomberg News. Kuwaiti OPEC governor Nawal al-Fezaia's prediction of an output freeze excluding Iran in an interview with Bloomberg helped send oil prices soaring more than 5 percent on world markets on April 6 and 7. - 4/7/16

Explainer: Why The Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis Matters

- This week's Nagorno-Karabakh crisis might strike most people as nothing more than another minor conflict in a remote, faraway place. But the role of the Caucasus in the global energy trade and the potential for full-scale hostilities between Azerbaijan and archrival Armenia or its clients drawing in major regional powers are reason enough to keep a close eye on whether the April 5 cease-fire holds. -Charles Recknagel, RFE - 4/6/16

Saudi attempting to slow Iran oil surge: Report

- A new report points to Saudi Arabia's attempts to hinder Iran's efforts to regain its market share of the global oil trade. The Financial Times report on Monday said Saudi Arabia has been banning vessels that transport Iranian crude from entering their waters. - 4/5/16

Iran oil exports surpass 2 million bpd

- Iran has sharply raised oil exports since the lifting of sanctions in January, with the sales of crude and condensate standing over 2 million barrels per day, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh says. "Iran's exports of oil and gas condensate are now at more than 2 million barrels per day," the minister told the Shana news agency in Tehran on Sunday. - 4/4/16

Iran says regained lost oil market share

- Iran says it has already been able to regain the share of the oil market that it had lost as a result of multiple years of draconian sanctions. Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh says this has been materialized as a result of an increase in the country's production and exports of crude oil as well as gas condensate. - 3/17/16

Oil Prices Plummet On Fear Iran Will Torpedo Output Freeze Plan

- The price of premium crude fell 3 percent on March 14 and dropped further to under $40 a barrel in early trading March 15 after Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said that Tehran would not immediately join in a production freeze this year, but might join after raising its output back to levels that prevailed before economic sanctions. - 3/15/16

Iran Rejects Russia-Saudi Oil Freeze Proposal

- Iran has said it will not freeze its oil production, a blow to a proposal by Russia and Saudi Arabia to freeze global output to help turn around a plunge in oil prices. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told Iran's Press TV on March 13 that other oil-producing countries should "leave us alone." - 3/13/16

Russian, Iranian Ministers To Discuss Oil-Output Freeze

- Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak will meet with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on March 14 in Tehran to discuss how an oil-output freeze might apply to Iran, officials say. - 3/11/16

Iran exports 32 tons of heavy water to US

- Iran on Tuesday announced that it had exported 32 tons of heavy water to the United States in what could be a landmark progress in the commercialization of the country's nuclear energy program. - 3/9/16

Iran says oil exports rose by 30%

- Iran said on Tuesday that its oil exports had increased by 30 percent last month. The country's Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh has been quoted by the media as saying that exports increased to 1.75 million barrels per day (bpd) during the Iranian month of Bahman, which runs from January 21 to February 19. - 3/2/16

India presses for undersea Iran gas plan

- Three major Indian gas buyers will be visiting Iran early next month to discuss a long-proposed undersea pipeline which New Delhi sees as an alternative to a similar project via Pakistan, a press report says. - 2/29/16

Iran rejects oil freeze call as 'joke'

- Iran on Tuesday vehemently rejected any possibility that it will stop increasing its oil production with the country's oil minister Bijan Zangeneh mocking any request on Tehran to that effect as "a joke". - 2/23/16

Plunging oil price brings Saudi Arabia and Iran together in alliance of enemies

- The Iranian endorsement of a plan by its arch regional rival, Saudi Arabia, to stabilise global oil prices could be seen as a diplomatic coup for Riyadh. However, Tehran's support for a production freeze has not been driven by a new desire for political rapprochement as much as acceptance of a greater enemy: collapsed commodity prices. -Guardian - 2/22/16

Iran Joins Georgia's Caucasian Gas Circle

- As the price of natural gas keeps declining, competition among Caspian Basin suppliers is picking up. Georgia, which serves as a crossroads for Caspian Basin energy exports, has become the focal point of a three-way scramble among natural gas exporters. Citing a wintertime shortage of natural gas, Tbilisi is considering deals from Azerbaijan, which already supplies 90 percent of Georgia's gas; Russia, which provides the other 10 percent as a fee for transiting Russian energy to Armenia; and, now, Iran. -Giorgi Lomsadze, LobeLog - 2/21/16

Iran proposes nuclear power plan with Hungary: Salehi

- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said at a Thursday conference in Budapest that Tehran proposed the pilot project with Hungary to design and develop a 25-megawatt reactor as well as a reactor of up to 100 megawatts, Reuters reported. - 2/19/16

Major oil producers agree to keep production

- Iran says a quadripartite meeting that it hosted on Wednesday with the visiting oil ministers of Venezuela, Iraq and Qatar over measures to boost oil prices had ended with an agreement for OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers to keep their current output ceiling to help stabilize the market and boost the prices. - 2/18/16

Iran, Iraq Weigh Oil Production Freeze Pact

- Iran's OPEC envoy said Wednesday the country plans to increase its oil production to levels it had before the imposition of international sanctions sharply cut its exports. The comments came ahead of a meeting in Tehran of oil ministers from Iran, Iraq and Venezuela to discuss a proposal to freeze production in order to battle a drop in oil prices. - 2/17/16

Russia, Saudi Arabia Agree Oil-Output Freeze

- Russia and Saudi Arabia, the world's two largest crude producers, have agreed to freeze output, as long as others follow suit. Freezing output at January levels will be "adequate," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on February 16 after talks with Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak in Qatar's capital, Doha. - 2/16/16

In Iran, New Battle Brews Over Contracts With Foreign Oil Giants

- A political battle is taking shape in Iran over any new foreign role in developing the country's enormous oil wealth, only a few weeks after the Iranian nuclear deal with foreign powers relaxed tough economic sanctions. -Thomas Erdbrink, NY Times - 2/1/16

Russian Oil Execs Agree To Talk With OPEC About Boosting Prices

- Russian oil executives and energy officials decided this week they should talk to Saudi Arabia and the OPEC oil cartel about cutting output to boost world oil prices, the head of Russia's pipeline monopoly said on January 27. - 1/28/16

Azerbaijan's Reserves Rapidly Evaporating Amid Fiscal Storm

- With oil prices now barely above $31 per barrel, Azerbaijan's energy-export economy is taking on lots of water. And what is worse, Baku's lifeboat, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, appears to be in danger of foundering. -Durna Safarova, LobeLog - 1/26/16

Iran signs oil deal with Russia's Lukoil

- Iran says it has signed a deal with Russia's Lukoil over two exploration projects in the country's southwestern oil-rich Khouzestan province. Hormoz Qalavand, the director for exploration affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has been quoted by the media as saying that Lukoil is to look for hydrocarbon reserves in Dasht-e Abadan and the northern parts of the Persian Gulf. - 1/25/16

Crude Reckoning: The Far-Reaching, Unexpected Effects Of Falling Oil Prices

- What do a Kurdish Peshmerga fighter, a Russian villager, and an American miner have in common? They have all been adversely affected by plunging oil prices. For many Western consumers, plummeting prices mean paying less to heat their homes and drive their cars. But cheap oil, at its lowest price in over a decade, is also having far-reaching and unexpected geopolitical and economic consequences around the world. -Frud Bezhan, RFE - 1/20/16

Europe eyes Iran as new energy source

- Europe looks to Iran to diversify energy supplies after the lifting of sanctions on the Islamic Republic, head of Italy's Eni SpA Claudio Descalzi says. Iran owns the world's largest gas reserves but its share of the market is negligible because much of the gas produced goes to local consumption which is huge by all standards while sanctions have curbed efforts to ramp up production. - 1/19/16

Iran gives order for 500,000 bpd rise in oil production

- Managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company says the Oil Ministry has been ordered to raise the country's daily oil production by 500,000 barrels following announcement of the removal of international sanctions against Iran. - 1/18/16

Iran's Move To Add To Oil Glut Sends Global Markets Reeling

- Oil prices plummeted to $29 a barrel on an expected increase in Iranian oil exports as international sanctions are lifted this weekend, dragging stock markets sharply lower around the world on January 15. With major indexes in New York, Shanghai, London and elsewhere plunging in a world awash in oil but lacking strong sources of economic growth, worried investors snapped up gold, bonds, and other safe-haven assets. - 1/16/16

The Woman Shaping Iran's Oil Future

- Raised in a pistachio-farming family in tradition-minded southern Iran, Hassanzadeh, 31, earned her law degree and Ph.D. in the U.K. on scholarships. She literally wrote the book on Iran's natural gas industry since the 1979 Islamic revolution--it was published last year by Oxford University Press. She has returned to Iran to head a consulting firm, Energy Pioneers, based in Tehran and London, that's at the vanguard of Iran's all-out push to lure back foreign investors after the expected lifting of sanctions in coming months. -Peter Waldman, Bloomberg - 1/15/16

Was Iran's Claim About Ramping Up Oil Production Just Hype?

- Low oil prices and increased risks in investing in Iran are forcing the country to tread its waters very carefully -Dalan McEndree, TIME - 1/12/16

Iran opens $6 billion gas operations

- Iran brings online two more operations in its biggest gas field, marking the opening of the first such project all carried out by domestic entities in the face of Western sanctions. President Hassan Rouhani attended inauguration of phases 15 and 16 of the South Pars field in Asaluyeh on Monday along with other senior officials, including his Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh. - 1/11/16