Iran, Venezuela Welcome Oil Market Stability
Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh and his Venezuelan counterpart Eulogio Del Pino have recently expressed their desire for stability in the oil market. Following a meeting in Tehran, Zangeneh said the two countries were ready to take any action which would help stabilize oil markets.
"We are ready for any action that would help the oil market stability," said the Iranian minister.
He put at 98% the level of compliance of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers with a November 2016 plan for cutting output.
"Fortunately, the level of commitment of member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) with the Declaration of Cooperation on supply cut has been good," he added.
The minister added that the level of compliance would "get better" in the future.
Zangeneh said his talks with Del Pino were focused on expanding bilateral relations, conditions of crude oil market and encouraging non-OPEC cooperation for more stability in the market.
He gave a positive assessment of the oil market's reaction to the OPEC deal and said the Iranian and Venezuelan ministers had discussed extension of the agreement to June 2018.
Zangeneh said more talks were expected about the OPEC deal extension during the upcoming meeting of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) ministerial meeting due to be held in Moscow in October.
"Russia is the most important non-OPEC producer and we plan to hold talks with Russia's Minister of Energy Alexander Novak on this issue," he said.
"The non-OPEC countries' compliance with [output] cut is good, but they need to show more compliance," said Zangeneh.
Signatories of the OPEC and non-OPEC deal are considering various options to extend their crude oil output cut deal.
The agreement, which went into force January 1, calls on OPEC and 10 non-OPEC producers, led by Russia, to cut a combined 1.8 mb/d in output through March 2018 in order to rebalance the market and induce draws of oil from storages.
Oil Terminal in Shahid Rajaei Port
Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization plans to build an oil terminal in Shahid Rajaei Port, the PMO chief said.
Mohammad Rastad said the project was to be implemented after attracting IRR 1,600 billion over a two-year period.
He also said that the PMO was concentrating on finalizing the case of operators in Phases I and II of Shahid Rajaei Port before relevant agreements are signed.
"For Phase III development of Shahid Rajaei Port, a package of investment attraction been prepared for the private sector in the hope of development of this phase in the near future," said Rastad.
He also said that phase I of Chabahar Port, currently 85.5% complete, was berthing container ships.
"Fortunately, we have no financial problem with the contractor of Chabahar Port and we hope to see the completion of remaining 15% of the Chabahar development project in coming months," said Rastad.
OPEC Output Cuts Visible in Market
Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh has given a positive assessment of OPEC member states' commitment to a production cut deal.
"The results of OPEC decisions are visible in the oil market," he said.
Zangeneh said Iran had always favored the strength of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, adding that Tehran would be always ready to help OPEC for market stability in favor of both producers and consumers.
"Generally speaking the level of OPEC commitment is acceptable; however, some modifications are needed," the minister.
Asked what changes he meant was necessary, Zangeneh said: " The first one is all member states' full commitment to the OPEC and non-OPEC supply cut and then paying attention to the Libya and Nigeria output."
"Iran will support any decision that would benefit OPEC, within the framework of national interests," he said.
OPEC and some non-OPEC oil producers, led by Russia, have been cutting their output in a bid to contain a global glut which has slashed oil prices.
In November, OPEC ministers are to get together to decide on possible extension of the output cut deal.
France Bank to Fund Iran Projects
Bpifrance, the country’s state investment bank, will finance investment projects of French companies in Iran from 2018, granting up to 500 million euros ($598 million) in annual credits, its CEO said in a newspaper interview.
"Excluding a force majeure case, we will be on their side in early 2018. We are the only French bank that can do it without risking U.S. sanctions for a possible breach of remaining embargo rules," Nicolas Dufourcq told Le Journal du Dimanche.
The deal Iran struck in 2015 with six major powers lifted many sanctions against the country in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities and paved the way for international business deals.
But many banks have stayed away for fear of inadvertently breaking remaining U.S. sanctions, which could lead to huge fines.
Because the BPI has no operations abroad, notably in the United States, it is not exposed to possible fines for U.S. sanctions breaches.
Several Franco-Iranian deals were announced during Iran President Hassan Rouhani's official visit to Paris in January last year. These included a joint venture between carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Iran Khodro, as well as plans for Iran to buy Airbus aircraft to update its ageing fleet.
There were also deals in sectors: oil, shipping, health, agriculture and water.
Petchem Guarantees Iran Future
Iran's Minister of Industry, Trade and Mine Mohammad Shariatmadari has said petrochemical industry would guarantee the future of Iran.
"Petrochemical industry has managed to convert raw materials to products of high value-added and therefore we need to be grateful to all those contributing to the petrochemical industry because they guarantee the future of the country," he said during a visit to the Iran Plast exhibition in Tehran.
"Despite the growth of upstream petrochemical industry, downstream industry has seen slow progress due to restrictions on investment. Some products of upstream sector are exported to other countries," Shariatmadari said.
"I hope that these products would be used in the private sector's downstream petrochemical industry by knowledge-based companies so that with the help of the National Development Fund of Iran and under the aegis of the government would be used in job creation and generation of value-added," he said.
"Downstream petrochemical industry is the hope of the country's industry and by relying on downstream industries we can boost the country's industrial and technical capabilities," said Shariatmadari.