Official: Iran Highly Capable to Jump Oil, Gas Export

Official: Iran Highly Capable to Jump Oil, Gas Export

Araqi, who also serves as the CEO of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), made the remarks on the sidelines of Russian Energy Week International Forum.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is able to increase its oil exports volume at international level, he said asserting that Iran is highly capable of exporting gas to the neighboring states and other countries.
Given the environmental issues discussed, it is predicted that gas consumption will experience a significant growth in the next few years up by 2030, he maintained.
Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the major gas producers in the world, he said, adding “most neighbors will use Iranian gas in the near future, so that it is logical to prepare infrastructures for exporting gas to neighboring countries”.
He pointed to gas-supply project in the country and said, “۱۰۰ and 95 percent of urban and rural areas of the country have been supplied with gas respectively. In the same direction, gas has been supplied to most industrial and petrochemical industries of the country.”
CEO of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Hamid-Reza Araghi once again reiterated that Iran has high potential to transmit its gas to the neighboring states and other countries in the LNG (liquefied natural gas) form.
While Iran is one of the few at the top of list of rich states in terms of energy resources, both oil and gas, in the world, the US is after cutting Iran’s revenues from energy export of Iran. Due to the facts, and the rich resources of Iran, many experts believe that the US dream will never come true and will further exacerbate the situation in the world energy market.
On July 8, the Iranian parliament’s research center has readied a comprehensive plan that includes a detailed list of policies and moves to fight off sanctions as Washington sped up attempts to rally international support for intensified pressures on Tehran.
The comprehensive “active anti-sanctions plan” that has been compiled at the parliament research center after long studies and consultations with experts from Iranian research and academic centers, traders and entrepreneurs is now under study by senior Judiciary, Parliament and Government officials for a final editing.
The program that mainly aims to make the country “unsanctionable” has been developed in contrast to the US sanctions program and has reportedly been edited seven times so far, several MPs told FNA.
Information obtained by FNA reveals the program offers a package that also involves social and cultural measures to reinvigorate the country’s economy and infrastructure against the US sanctions that come into effect from 90 to 180 days after their re-imposition and seek to wear off Iran’s economy step-by-step.
The plan also entails specific time-based nuclear, security and political leverages that would be enforced in reprisal for enemy threats, while it also envisages transient waivers that could be extended, halted or annulled based on relevant decisions by authorities.
The plan to make Iran sanction-proof includes detailed measures in two 90-120 days and 180-210 days periods in various areas of monetary, banking and currency sector, liquidity management and deterring middlemen disruption and negative interference, optimized forex reserves management, facilitated money transfer in the international market, reduction of intermediary currency role, strategic commodities, budget resources and use, energy, business, trade, structures, culture, society, media and legal affairs.
Meantime, several other plans have also been compiled by university and research centers for improving economy through reinvigoration of national potentials to make the country sanctions-proof.
Iran’s Biggest Mortgage Provider Extends €۱۴b in 3 Decades
Iran’s housing and construction sector has received about 2.09 quadrillion rials (over €۱۴b) worth of loans during the past three decades, according to the state-run agent bank of the sector.
The value has been converted based on the euro’s Tuesday exchange rate of 146,210 against the rial, as the dollar saw wild fluctuations in the day and a clear and stable rate was elusive.
Bank Maskan disclosed a long-term lending portfolio that shows it has allocated a total of about 2.22 quadrillion rials (over €۱۵ billion) from the fiscal 1988-89 up to the end of the fifth month of the current fiscal year on Aug. 22, according to Financial Tribune.
Of this amount, the overwhelming majority, about 2.09 quadrillion rials, has been dedicated to the housing and construction sector, reports HIBNA, the official news outlet of the bank.
The total number of loans handed out to applicants during the 30-year period was reported at 10.03 million, of which 8.86 million loans were allocated to the housing and construction sector.
Bank Maskan, which is owned by the Maskan Investment Group, accounts for almost all housing loans allocated to Iran’s housing and construction sector.
The Central Bank of Iran does not prohibit other banks from engaging in issuance of facilities for the sector. However, all of them, except the state-run Bank Melli Iran, have refrained from entering the sector due to their own problems, including a hefty credit crunch.
India Cuts Oil Purchases from US, Turns to Iran Ahead of Sanctions
Indian buyers reduced US crude purchases and loaded up on Iranian oil ahead of the restart of US sanctions next month and as the WTI-Brent differential narrowed, according to traders and shipping intelligence firm Kpler.
US oil shipments to India fell to 84,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month, down 75 percent from a record high of 347,000 bpd in June, Kpler data showed. India accounted for 12 percent of US crude exports in June.
Last month, Indian buyers lifted purchases of Iranian crude to 502,000 bpd, up 111,000 bpd over August, in “a last gasp” of purchases “before sanctions actually hit,” a US-based trader said, adding that those additional barrels displaced US crude.
Overall US exports also fell 917,000 bpd to 1.7 million bpd in the last week of September, according to the Energy Information Administration, as a stronger US dollar and Brent’s premium to WTI fell, making US crude less affordable.
India, which has become a key Asian destination for US crude this year, has been one of the top two buyers of Iranian crude. However, the country’s refiners since June have cut purchases of Iranian crude ahead of US sanctions.
US exports to all Asian countries fell 73,000 bpd to 427,000 bpd last week, while US shipments to Europe dropped 102,000 bpd to 543,000 bpd, Kpler data showed, according to Reuters.
Iran’s crude exports to China also increased by 29,000 bpd to 620,000 bpd, according to Kpler, as China cut its US purchases amid an ongoing trade spat with the United States.
Chinese increase in Iran oil imports could offset impact of US sanctions: Novak
China’s possible decision to increase its imports of Iranian oil could offset the negative impact of US sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.
‘We do not fully understand how the consumers from the Asia-Pacific region will react, and whether China will increase its imports [of Iranian oil]. There will be no change [on the market] if the flow of Iranian oil is redirected. There are a lot of uncertainties that we do not fully understand today,’ Novak said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week, Sputnik reported.
Novak pointed out that the move would affect Chinese-US trade relations, triggering another stage of trade war between Beijing and Washington.
‘These volumes are insignificant for the Chinese economy, so if there is a decision [to stop importing US oil], the People’s Republic of China will be able to shift to other sources without any problems,’ the Russian minister added.Media reported on Wednesday citing the president of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co (CMES) that shipments of US crude oil to China had been stopped amid the escalating China-US trade war.
Iran’s envoy to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Hossein Kazempour Ardabili said in late September that other OPEC members will be unable to compensate for missing Iranian oil supplies on the market after US sanctions against Tehran go into force.
Iran, Russia confer on using national currencies in trade
Heads of Iran and Russia central banks met in Moscow Thursday, and discussed various issues related to banking cooperation, particularity the use of national currencies in trade transactions.
Following the recent meeting of Iranian and Russian presidents in Tehran focused on boosting trade and financial ties between the two sides, the Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnaser Hemmati headed a delegation to Moscow and held talks with his Russian counterpart Elvira Nabiullina on Thursday.During the meeting, the two sides conferd on the use of national currencies in bilateral trade, the use of financial messaging systems, the increase of the level of brokerage relationships, and the funding of civil and development projects.Head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, voiced hope that cooperation between the two countries’ banking networks would increase in the near future within the framework of a roadmap recently agreed on by the two countries.
They also agreed to continue technical and specialized negotiations between the two sides’ teams of experts until the desired results are achieved in the aforementioned areas.
In a post on his Instagram page following the meeting, Hemmati said the talks with the head of Central Bank of Russia were “constructive”, which could serve as a “good start for developing financial and trade relations between the two countries.”
He also noted the strong resolve on the part of Russian leadership for developing economic ties with Iran, adding that conducting transactions on the basis of national currencies would be one key topic of discussion between the two sides.