Iran's Oil Minister: We Have No Restrictions for Cooperation with Americans

Iran's Oil Minister stated that "we have no restrictions for cooperation with Americans," emphasizing that Iran does not impose limitations on foreign oil companies from any country, including the U.S. According to ISNA news agency, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh announced during a television program on Saturday night that there are no restrictions for any country or company, and Americans have been barred from economic cooperation by their government. He mentioned that creating competition would benefit the nation, and there are no obstacles for the presence of American companies. According to U.S. laws, companies from this country have not been allowed to participate in Iran's oil and gas projects since 1995. Zangeneh's remarks come as several major Western companies, including Total from France, Eni from Italy, British Petroleum, and Royal Dutch Shell, have expressed hope that Western sanctions against Iran will be lifted so they can reconsider entering Iranian projects, especially following the comprehensive nuclear agreement. Iran claims that its oil and gas fields need $185 billion in investment over the next five years. Zangeneh emphasized that the primary goal of having top-tier companies in Iran is to strengthen national technology, and funding will come later. He also stated that "we can increase oil production capacity by 500,000 barrels in less than a week," with the expectation that this figure will rise to over one million barrels in a month. He clarified that Iran's production was about 3.9 million barrels before sanctions, and more than one million barrels were lost post-sanctions. Since 2007, Iran has not been able to launch any significant new oil fields, and according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, most active oil fields in Iran are in the latter half of their lifespan, losing 8 to 13 percent of their output annually. Currently, Iran produces just over 2.8 million barrels of crude oil daily. Zangeneh believes that by the end of November or December, all sanctions will be lifted, affecting sales, quantities, transportation, insurance, and access to funds. He also discussed Iran's offshore oil reserves and the need to increase exports as soon as possible, stating, "We do not have crude oil reserves, but we have gas condensates. We can shut down crude oil production, but this is not the case with gas condensates." According to international estimates, Iran currently has 35 to 45 million barrels of oil stored offshore. Customs statistics indicate that Iran's gas condensate exports have decreased by up to 40 percent over the past four months. Regarding Iran's blocked funds from oil sales abroad, Zangeneh explained that these funds fall into several categories, with some accounts related to the Central Bank from oil sales in Japan, South Korea, and some in India. He added that some of these accounts have not been deposited into the Central Bank, such as a six billion dollar account in euro accounts in India, which will be deposited into the treasury once sanctions are lifted. He emphasized that part of the funds belongs to the oil company, amounting to nearly two and a half billion dollars, and the Central Bank is aware of the rest of the figures. Zangeneh also addressed the emergence of news regarding a "second Babak Zanjani" with double the debt, stating that the $5.3 billion in question has been misrepresented, and some have attempted to create a narrative around it to diminish the severity of the situation. He clarified that this money is in the account of an Emirati company and will be returned to the Central Bank once sanctions are lifted. He mentioned that there are also funds in India belonging to a refinery company. Zangeneh stated that before his tenure at the Ministry of Oil, condensates were sold to this company, and the issue has been resolved since early 2014. He noted that some funds belong to the Central Bank, but the blocked funds in India, amounting to about six billion dollars, belong to the government. He added that there are funds in European countries like Italy, Greece, and the UK, totaling nearly two and a half billion dollars. Some companies, like Shell, are ready to return the blocked funds once sanctions are lifted, although some may delay this process. Shell announced last week that it is prepared to pay $2 billion of Iran's oil debt after sanctions are lifted. Regarding reports of a "missing oil rig" during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, Zangeneh explained that a rig worth $88 million was purchased by a marine facilities company, which is owned by the Oil Pension Fund and the cooperative of retired police personnel, with part of the company's shares also belonging to the staff. He reminded that the rig had been in existence for 20 days, and just days before its purchase, an Argentine company bought the same rig for $66 million and sold it to the marine facilities company for $88 million. According to the Iranian Oil Minister, "On the same day, according to documents, the management of the marine facilities company signed the delivery document for the rig, but the rig was not delivered. The first 20 percent was paid as a down payment, and after a while, the owner of the rig canceled the contract because the payment from the contracting company to the marine facilities company was not made, but the $88 million was still paid, and this money was deposited into accounts, and the entire cost of the rig was paid to the contracting company with the marine facilities company." He added that the original owner of the rig took it back due to not receiving the original payment, meaning that the total amount for the rig was paid, but no rig was delivered.