TEHRAN (Iran News) Amirmaeini pointed out in an interview with ILNA that over the past one to two decades, Iran’s oil and gas industry has suffered from a severe lack of meaningful investment. This stagnation has reached a point where even domestic energy needs are difficult to meet — let alone expanding exports. He stated that the core challenge facing both the economy and the energy sector is investment, and any progress in the diplomatic talks could pave the way for foreign investors to return.

He added that beyond financing, Iran also needs modern project management and access to new technologies. Success at the negotiation table, he said, would allow Iran to mobilize all necessary production factors, helping stabilize and increase production in the oil, gas, and refining sectors.

Amirmaeini underscored that while various political groups have made claims about advancing the energy sector, the reality is that sanctions have been a significant obstacle. “Only the lifting of sanctions can resolve these deep-rooted problems,” he said.

Looking ahead, he explained that should sanctions be lifted, Iran must focus on identifying attractive projects for foreign investors and offering them under suitable contractual frameworks. But just having model contracts is not enough. What’s crucial, he said, is having agile and skilled negotiation teams to accelerate investment opportunities in the oil sector.

“If the Oman negotiations bear fruit, we must be ready to act quickly. Legal frameworks are especially critical, and we must be prepared to finalize agreements and commence projects in the shortest time possible,” Amirmaeini noted.

Regarding exports, he cautioned against expecting an immediate return to traditional or new markets. “We must re-enter the global market gradually. Many countries are keen to diversify their energy suppliers and reduce dependence on limited sources, and Iran can certainly fill that gap. However, due to high domestic consumption—particularly of gasoline, diesel, gas, and electricity—initial investments should prioritize domestic supply.”

He also highlighted Iran’s potential gas export opportunities, pointing to Pakistan as a promising market, contingent on sanctions being lifted. “We could revive the long-stalled pipeline project. Additionally, we can broaden talks with Turkey and Iraq, invest in LNG infrastructure, and target more distant global markets. The LNG market is growing rapidly, and we need to focus our attention there,” he said.

Currently, the bulk of Iran’s oil exports go to China. Still, Amirmaeini expressed confidence that new markets can be found, especially as countries seek to diversify their energy sources.

He acknowledged that some oil producers may not welcome Iran’s return to the market but said the overall market could absorb Iran’s share. “Even with OPEC and OPEC+ managing oversupply to maintain price stability, all players stand to benefit in the long run,” he stated.

On potential collaboration with American oil companies, Amirmaeini noted that while Iran hasn’t worked with U.S. firms since the 1979 revolution, American companies played a significant role in developing Iran’s oil sector beforehand. “If the political climate allows it, U.S. firms could compete with their European counterparts to invest in Iran. They hold advanced technology and expertise, especially in shale oil, and though our fields don’t require cutting-edge tech, any company that brings strong technical, financial, and legal capabilities will have an edge.”

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According To Iran News, Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri highlighted the country’s success in countering the US sanctions and said the Islamic Republic is selling its oil despite the embargoes on the oil sector.

The US government thought it was able to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero but the Islamic Republic sells its oil in various ways even though its neighbors and close international friends did not dare to buy the Iranian oil, Jahangiri said in a speech on Monday.

He further said nearly two years have passed since the new round of pressures on Iran as the US president has declared that the sanctions would largely affect the Iranian nation.

US officials are clearly speaking of an economic war against Iran and the Iranian people, the first vice-president said, adding that they wrongly thought they would be able to pave the ground for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

However, despite the pressures of sanctions and economic war, Iran managed to “keep itself on its feet”, he went on to say.

The remarks come against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and the US with Washington imposing new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The US has ratcheted up pressure on Iran since last year after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump is trying to reduce Iran’s oil exports to “zero,” and has sent an aircraft carrier strike group, a bomber squad, an amphibious assault ship, and a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East to try to stack up pressure on Tehran.

Iranian officials, however, have dismissed such moves as psychological warfare, saying the country has its own ways of circumventing the American bans.

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IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

Iranians, by adopting smart tactics, could act in a way that all realized what it means when Iran says if it is not able to export oil, no country in the region will be able to do so. And they proved that they have this capability to do so and if something happens in the region, it will not only Iran that pays for it and all have to pay for it.

While some believed that what Iran says means closure of Strait of Hormuz but Iranians proved they along with their allies can put the whole region on fire, and there will be no more oil well for oil exports and consequently the whole world would be involved in it.

Americans thought by creating much hype and their arms capabilities, they could frighten Iran and its allies but we saw it was otherwise and this was the U.S. which was forced to retreat against Iranians and their allies and they found out that the opposite side was more courageous than what they imagined.

Although Ansarullah forces’ attack on Saudi Arabian oil pipelines was because of war between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, it showed capabilities of Ansarullah’s drones which could pass through the U.S.’s ultra-modern defensive system and modern military technology. It made the U.S. ponder that if Yemenis have such a sophisticated drone, what it would be about Iran’s capabilities. At the same time Palestinians had a conflict with Israelis and during the conflict, Palestinians fired over 700 missiles towards Israel in just two days and the attack had a remarkable meaning.

All know this fact that Americans do not withhold selling and delivery of weapons to Israel and it has delivered the most sophisticated defensive systems to Israelis, but Palestinian missiles could easily pass through Israel’s air defensive system called “Iron Dome” and hit the targets; And again a question is raised if Palestinians have such missiles what it would be about Iran. Although there are no proofs available to link Iran and its allies to the attack on the Fujairah oil tanker, it shows anyway that how security for exporting from the Middle East is fragile. So either Iranians’ allies or anybody else have launched that attack, it shows that it is easy to sink any oil tanker which is to replace Iran oil exports.

Now it is strange that despite this fact how UK has dared to enter this dangerous game both either under being under pressure from its big boss the U.S. or receiving some signals from inside Iran.

Although seizure of Iran’s tankers could cost Iran millions of dollars of loss but it will provide the ground for Iran for inflicting bigger and unlimited loss on UK.

Cooperation between UK and the U.S. against Iran’s strategic interests will provide the grounds for sweeping out agents of Freemasonry in Iran’s economy and Iran will take another strong step towards making healthy its economic independence.

By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

The post U.S. and UK’s Strategic Mistake Lies Here appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in the southern city of Assaluyeh on Thursday, Zanganeh said during his trip he would visit the development projects of the gas field and hold meetings with local officials of the energy zone.

He also called for efforts to speed up the operational process of the phases 13, 22, 23, and 24 of the South Pars and said the completion of the phases is high on the agenda of the Oil Ministry.

Zanganeh had previously said Iran is on pace to boost gas production to 1 billion cubic meters a day by March, roughly the same time that all South Pars phases are planned to be up and running.

The gas field, whose development has been divided into 28 phases, is located in the Persian Gulf straddling the maritime border between Iran and Qatar.

It covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, of which 3,700 square kilometers belongs to Iran.

It is estimated that the Iranian section of the field contains 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensates in place.

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The U.S. launched new sanctions on Iran’s petroleum sector on November 4, but it has granted exemptions to eight countries allowing them to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil.

Among those eight countries was South Korea, one of the major customers of Iranian oil, that won a six-month waiver allowing it to purchase a limited amount of crude from Iran, but the country has not imported any oil from Iran since September.

“As South Korea received a waiver and has been in talks with Iran about the first import volume, it seems (Iran oil) could be brought in late in January or early February at the earliest,” SK Innovation Chief Executive Officer and President Kim Jun told Reuters on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

South Korean and Japanese buyers were expected to restart Iranian oil imports early this year, industry sources said in November. South Korea can buy up to 200,000 barrels per day of Iran oil, mostly condensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil under the waiver, the sources said.

South Korea was the third-biggest buyer of Iranian oil and the largest importer of Iranian condensate before the U.S. sanctions were reimposed in November.

Also as reported by Reuters on Tuesday, Turkey has resumed imports of Iranian crude oil under the U.S. sanctions waiver, according to the trading and shipping sources.

The country restarted oil imports from Iran after a one-month stop in November when U.S. sanctions on Iran were reimposed.

Reuters also reported on Monday that Indian State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp will import 1 million barrels of Iranian oil in February after a gap of three months, with the nation’s overall purchases from Tehran remaining at 9 million barrels, three industry sources said.

The United States in early November granted India a six-month waiver from sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

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 Iran’s Oil Sales Official in previous sanctions period Mohammad-Ali Khatibi said that Saudi Arabia and other Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and even non-OPEC member states are unable to compensate such huge oil production volume.

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 Iran’s oil exports could fall by as much as two-thirds by the end of the year because of new U.S. sanctions, putting oil markets under huge strain amid supply outages elsewhere in the world, Reuters reported today.

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“Iran exports 2.5 million barrel per day of crude oil and gas condensate and cutting it easily and in a period of a few months is impossible,” the official said.
On Tuesday, the United States called on all countries to stop imports of Iranian oil from November.
Last month, Donald Trump officially pulled the United States out of Iran’s nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, and vowed to sanction companies doing business with Iran.

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