Iran Oil Production to Continue Unabated
Iran’s petroleum minister,Bijan Zangeneh, has reaffirmedthe country’s readiness tokeep producing oil. “The US isdoing its utmost to prevent usfrom producing oil for marketsupply, but Iran will forcefullykeep producing crude oil,” he
said.“The best action for oil pricesnot to increase and removetensions from the market,would be the US liftingsanctions on Iran,” he added.Zangeneh said any decline inoil production and subsequentprice hike would inflict losseson China and European nationsthat are leading oil consumers.“Iran and the Organization
of the Petroleum ExportingCountries (OPEC) have noresponsibility in this regard.
Rather, Iran intends to produceoil at full capacity, but the US ismaking every effort to preventus from producing our oil,” headded.Zangeneh said the Joint
Ministerial MonitoringCommittee (JMMC) of OPECand non-OPEC producers in
its recent meeting in Algiersconcluded that the marketfaced no oil shortages “and
therefore there is no need forproduction hike”.The Iranian minister said
oil prices had exceeded $85a barrel, adding: “Mr. Trumphas announced OPEC is
responsible for oil price hikesand it must boost output, butwe have to say that OPEC isnot responsible, rather [USPresident] Donald Trump inperson is responsible for oilprice hikes.”“The oil market is facing noshortages now. Global oilprices have increased dueIran’s South Zagros Oil and Gas ProductionCompany (SZOGPC) is on the shortlist toreceive Energy Institute Awards 2018.The philosophy behind this selection isimplementing flare gas reduction system
(FGRS) in Farashband Gas Refinery insouthern Iran. Gholam-Hossein Montazeri,
CEO of SZOGPC, said it was the first time acompany affiliated with the Iranian PetroleumMinistry was on the EI Awards shortlist.He said that the FGRS project would preventthe flaring of 2.1 mcm/month of gas. “Thisproject was designed to reduce gas flare atthe Farashband refinery. It would help reduceenvironmental pollution and return gas tothe refinery fuel cycle,” he said. Montazerisaid the project would save Iran about $3.4million a year. The EI Awards event this year
is scheduled for November 22 at the SheratonGrand Park Lane Hotel, London.
Iran Company Shortlistedfor EI AwardsPutin Lays Blame onTrump for Oil Price HikeRussian President Vladimir Putin said hisAmerican counterpart is to be blamed forcurrent high oil prices. “President Trumpconsiders that the price is high; he’s partlyright, but let’s be honest,” Putin said at theRussian Energy Week conference in Moscow.“Donald, if you want to find the culprit for the
rise in prices, you need to look in the mirror.”The Russian leader pushed back againstescalating criticism of OPEC and its allies,which Trump has blamed for Brent crude’srise to a four-year high near $85 a barrel. Still,Putin said his country has already boostedoutput and has the capacity to add another200,000 to 300,000 barrels to the market.Putin’s comments come after Trump criticizedRussia and OPEC for a 2016 deal in which theyagreed to curb oil output in a bid to support
prices that had slumped in mid-2014 due to aglut in global supply.
to psychological issues andpolitical tensions artificiallyinsinuated into market by theAmericans,” said Zangeneh.“Trump’s motives aredoubled. On one hand, he
wants to remove Iran’s oil fromthe market and on the otherhand he wants low prices,”he said. Zangeneh addedthat the removal of Iran’s 4mboe/d of oil, petroleumproducts and petrochemicals“is not an issue to be toleratedeasily by the world, and priceswill keep rising.” “Oil priceshave already increased while
OPEC has not cut its output.Therefore, the issue of pricehike is psychological and nowthey expect OPEC to boost itsoutput,” he said. OPEC is nolonger able to boost its output,he said, adding: ‘”OPEC isproducing at full capacity and
has no surplus capacity.circumstances different fromthe present ones,” he added.
Manouchehri said most oilproduction projects, numbering34, would be operated byNational Iranian South OilCompany (NISOC).“Under relative stagnation,
implementation of so manyprojects would be instrumentalin the materialization of
objectives,” he added. Notingthat the projects would face nofinancing problems either inIranian or foreign currencies,he said that necessary permitshad been issued for issuingbonds in Iranian rials. “Whatis important in maintaining
and raising oil productionis to preserve cohesion andintegration of activities with
a view to pushing aheadwith affairs and preventingany waste of assets,” he said.
“This issue must be taken intoconsideration by both clientsand contractors by doingtheir utmost to implement theproject on schedule.”British Prime Minister Theresa May hasexpressed the readiness of her country forcooperation with Iran in the energy sector.May said in a meeting with Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani that Britain was willing tobroaden economic cooperation with Iran. Theywere meeting on the sidelines of the 73rdannual gathering of the United Nations GeneralAssembly in New York. May also stressed thesignificance of salvaging Iran’s 2015 nucleardeal with six world powers, known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),following the US withdrawal. Rouhani said theUS “illegal” withdrawal from the JCPOA drew
surprise and opposition from the internationalcommunity. “We have to try our best and increasecooperation and continue negotiations in abid to reach a suitable practical framework forsafeguarding and implementing this agreement,particularly in the economic sector,” he said.
UK Eager for Energy Tieswith IranNational Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC)
and Petroleum University of Technology(PUT) have signed two agreements for
cooperation in training, research andconsulting. During the signing ceremony,
the significant role of education in thedevelopment of human resources and
expansion of cooperation between the twobodies was stressed.
Younes Bani-Saeed, director of humanresources at NIDC, said the agreements wereaimed at holding short-term, mid-term andlong-term training courses and trainingworkshops based on the scientific andtechnical qualifications and human resources.The agreements are expected to run for five
years.Ali Seyyedipour, director of physical assetsat NIDC, said the agreements would helpdevelop physical assets.NIDC, PUT SignTraining Agreement
The deputy CEO of NationalIranian Oil Company (NIOC)has announced Iran’s firmplan to proceed with liftingoil production. Gholam-RezaManouchehri said the oilproduction enhancement planwas aimed at job creation andbusiness prosperity for Iraniancompanies. “Therefore, despiteexisting restrictions, therewill be no question of halt [inproduction],” he said. “NIOCis determined to forcefully
preserve its production ceilingand we hope that once oilrecovery enhancement andpreservation projects comeonline, leading to further oilproduction, we would seeNo Haltin Iran OilSupply