EU Officials Lobby For Shah Deniz Exemption in US Sanctions on Iran

European Union and British officials have lobbied the US government to exempt the Shah Deniz gas field from sanctions on Iran, it has been reported today.

Unofficial sources confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the lobbying has found a favourable ear with several US lawmakers. 

The sanctions on Iran come in response to the country's refusal to cease their nuclear programme and seeks to stop Western businesses from conducting business with Iranian companies. 

However, the sanctions could affect the massive Shah Deniz gas field project as Iranian state-owned company Naftiran Intertrade Co. (NICO) holds a ten per cent stake in the Shah Deniz II project. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that EU and British Foreign Office officials, as well as executives from BP, the field's operator with a 25.5 per cent stake, have pressed the US government to exempt Shah Deniz from the sanctions.

"There is broad-based consensus in the House and Senate that our sanctions policy should impose maximum economic pain on the Iranians without allowing Russia to hold Eastern Europe hostage for energy supplies," the Wall Street Journal reports on congressional aide as saying.

The Shah Deniz field is estimated to hold approximated 1 trillion cubic feet of gas. The other partners in the consortium are Statoil (25.5 per cent), SOCAR (10 per cent), Lukoil (10 per cent), Total (10 per cent) and TPAO (9 per cent).