South Pars News

Two tankers carrying Iranian condensate, a type of ultra-light oil, have been floating off the United Arab Emirates for about a month as demand for the oil fell ahead of U.S. sanctions.The tankers, carrying about 2.4 million barrels of South Pars condensate combined, have been floating off the UAE since August after South Korea halted imports from Iran while China's demand dropped during summer, according to several industry sources and shipping data.The build-up in Iranian oil…

French oil giant Total held talks with Iranian officials about several projects in the country in 2016, notably a 10 million tonnes per year liquefied natural gas project (LNG), Reuters reported. It has signed an agreement with Iranian authorities for a 50 per cent stake  in Iran’s South Pars gas field project which will developed at an investment of $4 billion. Sources told Reuters in February that Total was in talks to buy a multi-billion dollar stake in Iran's partly-built LNG export facility.

Total is in talks to buy a multi-billion dollar stake in Iran's partly-built liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, Iran LNG, seeking to unlock vast gas reserves. The French oil major -- the first of its peers to strike deals in Iran after sanctions -- seeks entry into Iran LNG at a discount to the pre-sanctions price in exchange for reviving the stalled project, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. A third source confirmed Total was in the running for a stake, alongside several other oil majors, but any deal was still some way off. Total declined to comment. Iran's National Gas Export Co. (NIGEC), a central stakeholder in the project, did not respond to requests for comment by email and phone.

South Korea, Asia's largest buyer of condensate, will step up purchases of the ultra light oil from Iran by more than 50 percent in June, two sources said, as competitive pricing squeezes out rival oil from Qatar. Expected June shipments of condensate from Iran may reach at least six million barrels, or 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), said the sources. This would be a record level of imports, four times that in January when sanctions on Tehran were lifted, according to data from Korea National Oil Corp. In contrast, condensate imports from Qatar in April have fallen to 5.32 million barrels, down 19 percent from January, KNOC data showed.

Danish companies are eyeing a series of energy and shipping projects in Iran following a visit this week by the country's foreign minister, local news agencies and officials said on Tuesday. The Danish foreign ministry said its minister, Kristian Jensen, travelled to Tehran with a delegation representing 58 companies on Monday and that exports could increase by 500 million Danish crowns ($72 million) once sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme are lifted. News agency Shana cited Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying Danish companies were interested in developing oil fields in the Caspian Sea including the South Pars gas field, which also produces condensates. Global conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk is in the oil industry through its Maersk Oil unit.

As traders speculate over what type of oil is being kept by Iran in floating storage, two Iranian oil officials said on Thursday that the oil was condensate and fuel oil. The millions of barrels on ships could be delivered quickly to Iran's customers once sanctions are lifted and some traders believe a substantial part is crude, making them concerned about its impact on a global market already suffering a supply glut. "There is no crude oil in our floating storage, only condensate and fuel oil," said one of the officials, who declined to be identified due to company policy. Another official also said no crude was being stored. World powers and Iran reached a landmark deal last week…

Iran says it is storing condensate and fuel oil, not crude; some traders believe crude is being stored. As traders speculate over what type of oil is being kept by Iran in floating storage, two Iranian oil officials said on Thursday that the oil was condensate and fuel oil. The millions of barrels on ships could be delivered quickly to Iran's customers once sanctions are lifted and some traders believe a substantial part is crude, making them concerned about its impact on a global market already suffering a supply glut. "There is no crude oil in our floating storage, only condensate and fuel oil," said one of the officials, who declined to be identified due to company policy. Another official also said no crude was being stored.

After 10 years of diplomatic negotiation, the UN P5+1 countries (the U.S., the U.K., France, China, Russia and Germany) reached an agreement to unwind economic sanctions on Iran in return for significant international control and surveillance over its nuclear activities. The deal will revive foreign investment in Iran, as Western IOCs renew pre-sanction projects, notes energy industry market research and consulting company Douglas-Westwood (DW), who adds Brent dropped $1.15 to $56.70/bbl on the back of the announcement, with markets fearing a worsening of the global supply glut. Iran holds the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves and second-largest gas reserves, while being the second largest OPEC producer after Saudi Arabia.

According to the head of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), Iran has 42 very large crude carriers or VLCCs, each able to carry 2 million barrels of oil, reports Press TV. NITC has recently announced that after buying 20 oil tanker from China during the last two and half years, now it has 42 super-tankers with very large crude carriers (VLCC) in its navy. “No other company in the world owns that number of VLCCs,” NITC’s commercial director Nasrollah Sardashti has said.

Iran is not ready to replace Russia as a key gas supplier if sanctions against Tehran are removed, Itar-Tass news agency quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as telling Russian TV channel Rossiya 1. The European Union is quietly increasing the urgency of a plan to import natural gas from Iran, as relations with Tehran thaw while those with top gas supplier Russia grow chillier, a European Commission source told Reuters in September. "We are lagging in production and think about domestic consumption first," Rouhani told the channel in an interview. Iran has the world's second-largest gas reserves after Russia. "From time to time, we have problems during winter and then, you know, we have many buyers, clients around us...

Iran said its needs up to 34 new oil tankers to refurbish and expand its ageing fleet. Iran currently owns or has placed orders for a total of 36 tankers, said Mohammad Souri, head of the state-owned National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). "After taking delivery of our new tankers, the total number of our tankers will reach 36. To transfer all our export crude with our own ships, we will need to have 60 to 70," he said. Souri said Iran had placed orders for 10 new tankers from China and South Korea to double its fleet's capacity to six million tons. He did not name the shipbuilders involved. Iran plans to order up to eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers when production begins at its South Pars field in the Gulf, he said.

PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Canada's No. 2 oil company, could soon be on track to develop an East Coast offshore gas project to rival the huge Sable Island project, its chief executive said. PanCanadian, the oil and gas arm of conglomerate Canadian Pacific Ltd., plans to drill two appraisal wells this year near its recent Deep Panuke gas discoveries, made at the site of the exhausted Copan oil project off Nova Scotia. The wells will give the company the geological data it needs to decide whether to pursue more drilling or full development, PanCanadian CEO David Tuer said. Two recent wells drilled into the gas formation beneath the old oil reservoir tested at more than 50 million cubic feet a day each.

Iran attacked and seized control of a Romanian oil rig working in its Persian Gulf waters this morning one week after the Iranian government accused the European drilling company of hijacking another rig. An Iranian naval vessel fired on the rig owned by Romania's Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) in the Salman field and took control of its radio room, a Grup's representative in the United Arab Emirates said. Iran, which holds the world's second-largest oil and gas reserves, is due to respond to a European Union-led offer of incentives aimed at persuading it to halt uranium enrichment activities that are crucial to its nuclear program. Neither the press office of Iran's oil ministry nor the one of Iran's revolutionary guards could be reached for comment when called.

Iran has invited foreign companies to develop its offshore South Pars gas field, the first such call since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took power in August, Iran-Mania.com reported. The Iranian National Oil Company has placed four international tenders for the development of phases 19 to 22 of South Pars, the largest offshore field in the world. Iran has divided the gas field, located on the Iran-Qatar border in the Persian Gulf and shared by the two countries, into 25 phases. The tenders' document said that the most-recent phases will supply 100 million cubic meters (3,500 million cubic feet) per day of natural gas for domestic consumption.

Iran's National Iranian Oil Co. (NIO.YY) hopes to finalize deals with oil majors Total SA (TOT), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) and Repsol YPF SA (REP) towards the end of March to develop phase 11 and 13 of the country's giant South Pars gas field. Albawaba.com reports that South Pars Oil and Gas Co. would sign the contracts on the two phases sometime this week. In 2004, NIOC signed a framework deal with Total for the upstream development of phase 11 to develop liquefied natural gas in the Pars LNG project. Two LNG trains would produce 10 million metric tons annually and investment would be between $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion. NIOC also signed a similar framework deal in 2004 with Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol to form the Persian LNG production company…

Shell, Total SA and Repsol YPF SA will soon sign contracts with Iran to develop two phases of the Islamic republic's offshore South Pars gas field, Forbes reported. The contracts concern phases 11 and 13 of South Pars, with the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) scheduled for export. Total will be working on phase 11 in a project called Pars LNG, while Shell and Repsol will be working on phase 13 under the name Persian LNG. The firms will be operating jointly with the National Iranian Oil Co. Investment for each phase has been estimated at between $1.2 and $1.5 billion. (Source: Forbes)

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is to decide in 2007 whether to invest in Iran's Persian LNG project, its chief executive said on May 4. Speaking at a press conference, Jeroen van der Veer said "we are aware of the short-term developments," referring to international tensions surrounding the country's nuclear program. But he added "we intend to make a decision in the year 2007." In 2004, the National Iranian Oil Co. signed a framework deal in 2004 with Shell and Repsol YPF SA to form the Persian LNG production company, linked to the development of phase 13 of South Pars and valued at $1.5b. But no final investment has been made so far. Regarding Shell's plans in neighboring Iraq, van der Veer said the company would need a legal framework on petroleum in place in the country before investing.

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries has reportedly won a $110 million order from France's Total to build an undersea pipeline in Iran. Hyundai officials said the order was won on a turnkey basis, and that it would complete the construction of the 212-km-long pipeline by April 2001. The pipeline would be used to transport crude oil from an oil field in Iran's South Pars.

seven and eight of the South Pars gas development project in the Persian Gulf. This agreement reflects Statoil's strategy to expand its international upstream activities. Arabia, and in Iran. Middle East. This new activity is in line with Norwegian foreign policy, which encourages increased trade relations with Iran. Work is due to take place over the next four years, and Statoil's capital commitment over that period will amount to $300 million. The agreement will take effect before 10 November, when Statoil takes over the operatorship. produced over a four-year period from the start of production - which will be in late 2004 under current plans. Statoil regards this as an attractive and robust project. plant. exported to other Iranian oil fields for injection as pressure support.