Iran Parliament Approves Revolutionary Guard As Oil Minister

- Iran Parliament Approves Revolutionary Guard As Oil Minister

Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Benoit Faucon

Iran's lawmakers Wednesday approved a sanctioned senior official from the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as oil minister, as hardliners scored a major victory in tightening control over the country's most strategically important sector.

Brig. Gen. Rostam Ghasemi, who had been proposed by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was approved by 216 votes from a total of 264, according to Iran's Parliament website.

Ghasemi, who heads Khatam al-Anbiya, the most powerful economic wing of the Revolutionary Guards, will be the first commander from the elite paramilitary force to move into a ministerial post not related to defense.

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Iraq Parliament Starts Debate on Reviving National Oil Company

- Iraq Parliament Starts Debate on Reviving National Oil Company

Monday, July 04, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Hassan Hafidh

The Iraqi parliament has held its first hearing session to pave the way for the debate on a controversial draft law to reestablish the Iraqi National Oil Company, which the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime invalidated in the 1980s, officials said Monday.

The session was attended by the country's Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi, two former oil ministers Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloom and Thamer al-Ghadhban as well as the head and members of the parliament's oil and energy committee and several Iraqi oil experts.

Absent from the parliamentary hearing was deputy prime minister for energy affairs Hussein al-Shahristani, a key ally of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

A draft law of the long-awaited new national oil company, which would revive a company originally established in the 1960s and merged into the Iraqi oil ministry in 1987, was passed by the then cabinet in July 2009 but has been stalled in the parliament since.

Oil minister Luaibi told the hearing that creation of a new Iraqi National Oil Company is not essential and "it would add nothing to the Iraqi oil sector."

While speaker of the parliament Osama al-Nujaifi, head of the parliament oil and energy committee Adnan al-Janabi and Ghadhban who is also the current top energy advisor to Prime Minister al-Maliik, voiced their support for reviving the company.

The INOC, if restored, would act as the parent of the existing South Oil Co., Iraq's largest petroleum company, North Oil Co., Missan Oil Co. and Midland Oil Co.

According to its draft law, the INOC would spearhead national and local strategy. It would carry out all sorts of oil operations from exploration down to marketing. The firm would also partner with or even compete against foreign companies to develop Iraqi fields.

The INOC will be a cabinet-level organization led by a president with ministerial rank. The company's board will include officials from the ministries of oil, finance and planning and the Central Bank of Iraq.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Iran Parliament Rejects Ahmadinejad's Plan to Merge Ministries

- Iran Parliament Rejects Ahmadinejad's Plan to Merge Ministries

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)

Iran's parliament will not consider a plan by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to merge the ministries of oil and energy, a Tehran newspaper said Wednesday amid a political row between his government and parliament and elements of the clergy.

"A relevant parliamentary commission came to the conclusion that the oil ministry is important and should stay independent," deputy Hissein Sobhani-Nia was quoted as saying by Donyaye Eqtesad.

"Therefore, the parliament has removed the merger of the oil and energy ministries from the agenda," he said.

Observers said the dispute between parliament and Ahmadinejad's government is believed to go beyond technicalities and has become an ideological problem.

Ahmadinejad planned to merge the two ministries and become caretaker of the oil ministry himself until the plan was realized.

Parliament and the senate-like Guardian Council rejected the caretaker plan as illegal, forcing Ahmadinejad to introduce a new caretaker.

In the meantime, the president's plan to create a sports ministry failed after parliament on Tuesday rejected his candidate.

The rejections were expected to escalate the crisis between government supporters and conservatives in the parliament, as well as clerical circles who accuse Ahmadinejad and his aides of no longer following the principles of the Islamic establishment.

The main target of the conservatives and clerics is Ahmadinejad's chief of staff and relative by marriage, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, whom they accuse of undermining their power.

Parliament presented an ultimatum Monday to Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi over one of his deputies who is linked to Mashaei. Salehi was told to either fire Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh or face impeachment. Salehi gave in, and Malekzadeh resigned Tuesday.

Mashaei and other close aides of the president are branded by critics as a "deviant current" for preferring a nationalistic rather than an Islamic political approach.

Some critics have gone so far as to charge Mashaei and his group with plans to remove the clergy from power. Ahmadinejad has denied the charges but at the same time supported his aides, including Mashaei.

Copyright 2011 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

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Iran's Parliament Accuses Ahmadinejad of Violating Law

- Iran's Parliament Accuses Ahmadinejad of Violating Law

Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)

Iran's internal row escalated Wednesday as the parliament filed a brief in court accusing the president of violating the law by making himself caretaker of the oil ministry.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week dismissed oil minister Massoud Mirkazemi and took over the portfolio himself, which would have also made him rotating chairman at the OPEC meeting in Vienna.

The constitutional watchdog Guardian Council rejected the move as illegal and said he could not run the oil ministry as caretaker.

Although Ahmadinejad reportedly gave in and dropped the trip to Vienna, the parliament said he had violated the law and sent it to the judiciary for further investigation.

The president's plan to trim the cabinet, especially merge the oil ministry with the energy ministry, led to widespread criticism in parliament.

Ahmadinejad has also been involved in a row with the clergy and conservative faction over his close aides.

The aides were branded as a "deviant current" and accused of undermining the Islamic ruling system in Iran and the authority of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Copyright 2011 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

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Azerbaijan Parliament Ratifies Shafag-Asiman PSA

Azerbaijan Parliament Ratifies Shafag-Asiman PSA

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
BP plc

On May 6, the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan ratified the new production sharing agreement (PSA) between BP and SOCAR on joint exploration and development of the Shafag-Asiman structure in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, BP reported Tuesday.

Rashid Javanshir, BP's Regional President, said: "We are particularly pleased that the PSA was ratified by a unanimous vote. This is a good demonstration of the country's acknowledgement of BP's track record here and trust in our long-term commitment to Azerbaijan. We look forward to working in partnership with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to expand our mutual cooperation in exploration and development."

The ratification follows the signing of the PSA in Baku in October, 2010. Under the PSA, which is for 30 years, BP Exploration (Azerbaijan) Limited will be the operator with 50 percent interest while SOCAR will hold the remaining 50 percent equity.

The block lies some 125 kilometers (78 miles) to the SE of Baku. It covers an area of some 1,100 square kilometers and has never been explored before. It is located in a deepwater section of about 650-800 meters with reservoir depth of about 7000 meters.

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