Severe Criticism from Zangeneh towards Iraq; Italy and Greece, Despite Exemption, Do Not Buy Oil

Iran's Minister of Oil, Bijan Zangeneh, stated that Iraq receives $200 million worth of gas from Iran monthly but has not paid Iran since the imposition of U.S. sanctions. During a press conference on Tuesday, February 5, he mentioned that Iraq currently owes $2 billion for importing electricity and gas from Iran, claiming it cannot pay due to sanctions. Regarding Iran-Iraq cooperation in developing shared oil fields, he said, 'We insisted, they pulled back. We proposed to jointly develop the two small shared fields of Khorramshahr and Naftshahr, but they rejected that, let alone the larger shared fields. Iraq is not under sanctions and has no restrictions on choosing international companies; would they be willing to sign a contract with Iran and face U.S. sanctions?' He continued, 'If Iraq makes such sacrifices, there are much simpler ways; there were 11,000 barrels of oil swap between the two countries, which Iraq also stopped after the sanctions. No one is willing to sacrifice themselves for Iran.' Iran has five large shared oil fields with Iraq, and Iraq produces more than twice as much oil from these fields as Iran. Over the past few years, Iran has developed some border and shared fields located in the western Karun block, such as Yadavaran, but Zangeneh recently announced that the Chinese company Sinopec, which developed the first phase of the Yadavaran field, is unwilling to sign a $3 billion contract for the development of the second phase. The U.S. exempted Iraq from importing Iranian gas last November, but this exemption is only valid until the beginning of spring. Iraq claims it needs Iranian gas for electricity production. Iran also directly exports electricity to Iraq. On Tuesday, Zangeneh also stated that Italy and Greece, which are exempt from U.S. sanctions, do not buy any oil from Iran and refuse to explain why. He also mentioned that Russia recently bought shares in an Indian refinery, but India, which only has an exemption for purchasing 300,000 barrels of Iranian oil daily, does not allow Russia to buy oil from this refinery. The U.S. exempted eight countries from Iranian oil sanctions last November. Among Western customers, only Turkey continues to buy Iranian oil, but it imports one-third of the amount it purchased before the sanctions. According to Reuters, Turkey has reduced its purchase of Iranian oil to about 60,000 barrels per day since December. Currently, Iran exports oil only to China, India, Japan, and South Korea, besides Turkey. Taiwan, which had received an exemption from the U.S., has also halted its purchases of Iranian oil for now. Iran's total crude oil exports have fallen by more than half since the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA, dropping to about one million barrels. Zangeneh stated, 'We will not allow them to reduce oil exports to zero: The primary goal of the U.S. is to bring Iran's export revenues to zero, and if they fail to achieve this goal, they will try to prevent the transfer of Iran's export money. Most of Iran's exports consist of oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals, which the U.S. is trying to prevent from being exported, and if exported, they will not allow the money to be used to meet the needs of the people and the nation of Iran, causing inflation and shortages to arise and creating discomfort and concern for the people. However, we will do everything we can to prevent them from succeeding.' In response to a question about the Ministry of Oil's reluctance to offer crude oil on the energy exchange, he said, 'We offer every week, and anyone who claims they can operate in the energy exchange should come forward.' He added, 'If a change in the offering announcement is necessary to attract buyers, let us know. We have two conditions for selling oil: one is that they pay for it, and the second is that they do not sell it in the market we are selling in, as selling in that market is not an art.' On Tuesday, for the second consecutive time, one million barrels of oil were offered in the exchange market without finding a buyer. Iran claims it offers oil in the exchange to bypass sanctions so that the private sector can buy and export it. After the sanctions, only one million barrels of Iranian oil have been sold in the exchange.