Tehran Gets Ready to Play an Active Role in Global Gas, Eyes LNG
Iran’s First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said on Monday that Tehran is ready to play an active role in satisfying the global gas requirements. This came only a few hours after leaders in the United States, the European Union and Iran began making arrangements and preparations for the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between the P5+1 in July.
‘In a meeting with Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Mohammad-Hossein Adeli, he [Jahangiri] welcomed the Secretariat’s initiative in outlining the Global Gas Model and drafting the Market Outlook 2040 as well as forming the Technical-Economic Council’ reads a note released by the National Iranian Gas Company on Monday, referring to the organisation gathering the world's leading gas producers.
Adeli was in Tehran to take part to the Iranian Petroleum and Energy Club 2015 Congress and Exhibition (IPEC 2015), which opened on Monday.
“We can now begin to think about just how significant Iran’s contribution can be to the future of global gas,” Adeli said during the forum.
Despite the generic declarations typical of the first day of a summit, participants are expected to disclose Iran's energy strategy. Commentators expect Tehran to speak of LNG, rather than pipelines, to export gas to Europe.
The conference was opened by Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh, who recommended foreign companies to keep away from “corrupt dealers”.
“We recommend foreign firms to avoid any encounter and negotiations with corrupt people. If so, they will not only damage their credit, but will also miss the opportunity to be present in Iran,” Zangeneh said as reported by Shana, a news agency linked to Iran’s Oil Ministry.
PARTICIPANTS BEGIN TO IMPLEMENT NUCLEAR DEAL AFTER FORMAL ADOPTION
‘JCPOA participants will make necessary arrangements and preparations for the implementation of their JCPOA commitments. Today, Iran begins to take the steps necessary to implement its JCPOA commitments,’ reads a note released by the White House on Sunday, referring to removing centrifuges and reducing its uranium stockpile.
The United States said it will be closely monitoring Teheran’s adherence to its obligations, while implementing its commitments as detailed in the text of JCPOA.
“I have directed that the heads of all relevant executive departments and agencies of the United States begin preparations to implement the U.S. commitments in the JCPOA, in accordance with U.S. law,” reads the statement by US’ President Barack Obama.
GAS OPPORTUNITIES: UPSTREAM, OR DOWNSTREAM?
GECF secretary general Adeli warned about overly optimistic forecasts, explaining that the increase in gas production will be firstly used for domestic consumption.
“Given population and energy demand growth projections, it is hard to see that there will be anything other than significant gas-growth between now and 2040” Adeli said.
Adeli's statement is in line with the position of the Deputy Petroleum Minister Mansour Moazzami, who cautiously said last week that Teheran will give priority to export gas to neighbouring countries. Exports to Europe are expected to be dependent on Western companies’ investments in the country.
However, the presence of Eni, OMV and Total at the event showed European companies are interested in stepping into Iran, and committing to significant investments.
On September 30, the Iranian cabinet approved the Petroleum Ministry’s draft for new international upstream oil and gas contracts by endorsing the documents known as Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).
Sergio Matalucci is an Associate Partner at Natural Gas Europe. He holds a BSc and MSc in Economics and Econometrics from Bocconi University, and a MA in Journalism from Aarhus University and City University London. He worked as a journalist in Italy, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Belgium. Follow him on Twitter: @SergioMatalucci