Russian Iranian gas pact

Russia gas pact energizes Iran
By Pepe Escobar
Is online at Asia Times

Here is an excerpt to give you a taste:

As any European Union negotiator in Brussels is forced to admit over a few
bottles of Morte Subite beer, the EU is a virtual hostage of Gazprom. Adding to
European angst, both Russia and Iran want the formation of a gas equivalent of
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sooner rather than
later - a likely scenario at least from the point of view of Russian-Iranian
coordination in investment policy and pricing.

Teymur Huseynov, head of
the Eurasia department at the Exclusive Analysis risk consultancy, confirms
"Gazprom's vulnerability to US sanctions is minimal". Gazprom supplies over 25%
of Western Europe's gas. Much of Iran's future production will also go to
Western Europe anyway. Russia and Iran are competitors in the world gas market -
but up to a point: Europe needs both.
. . .

Iran is also basking in
good news in the oil front. The first phase of early production from the giant
Azadegan oilfield, west of Ahvaz in Iranian Khuzestan, is already on. According
to Iranian estimates, Azadegan holds no less than 33 billion barrels of crude
oil. For the moment it's pumping only 25,000 barrels a day - but the point is
that the whole technology was Iranian.

According to the deputy manager
of technical affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Hamid Deris,
the Iranians had to take over when experts of Japan's largest oil and gas
explorer, INPEX, under no-holds-barred US pressure, balked at investing in the
enormous project. The Japanese share was initially 90%; in the end it fell to
10%
. . .

. . . Iran - already exchanging energy with Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Turkmenistan - will also connect to Russia's national power grid. Fattah said
Iran and Russia would cooperate in the construction of two power plants in
Tajikistan. The results are obvious: the merging of Russian and Iranian
electricity networks will cover virtually all the demand in Central Asia and the
Caucasus. Most of the new investment will be Russian.

You can read the whole article here.