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Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji Iran oil contracts

Iran gives local companies $13bn to lift oil output

Iran has announced contracts with local companies worth more than $13 billion to boost its oil output. The sanctions-hit country wants to develop six oil fields to add around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and will rely on domestic expertise, Iran’s official news agency, Shana reported on Sunday. The agency said that the deals were […]

The IEA predicted that world oil demand will grow by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, but down from growth of 2.3 million bpd in 2023

IEA predicts oil supply will turn to deficit in 2024

Global crude markets supplies will shift from surplus into deficit in 2024, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted, implying higher hydrocarbon prices. The Paris-based watchdog raised its forecast for this year’s oil demand on Thursday on an improved outlook for the US economy and increased bunker fuel use, as attacks by the Houthis on […]

Iranian ambassador Alireza Enayati met with the President of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, Hassan bin Mujab Al-Huwaizi, in Riyadh in January

Saudi Arabia to establish shipping route with Iran

Saudi Arabia is planning to establish shipping links between Dammam on the Gulf coast and the Iranian port of Bandar Kangan, an Iranian official said this week, following the resumption of diplomatic ties between the two countries last year.  The Iranian port, which lies across from Dammam in the Gulf, is currently undergoing renovations to […]

Iran suffers frequent power outages and this, combined with high energy costs, presents hurdles to bitcoin miners

Energy costs push bitcoin mining in Iran underground  

Rising energy costs and onerous government regulations are forcing much of Iran’s once-blossoming bitcoin mining sector to operate clandestinely, a top industry executive has told AGBI. Bitcoin’s price surged to $46,900 in early January ahead of the launch of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US, up from a two-year low of about $15,800 in […]

Markets find it 'very hard' to price geopolitical events, said UBS wealth management CIO Mark Haefele

Investors unsure on pricing Gaza conflict, says UBS

Global investors and markets are “not sure” how to price in the fallout from the Israel-Gaza conflict, according to Swiss private wealth bank UBS.  “It’s very hard for the markets to price these events,” Mark Haefele, chief investment officer in the global wealth management division at Swiss bank UBS, told reporters on Thursday. “So far, […]

Oil tankers and other vessels moored off Singapore. An area further off Singapore is favoured by Iran's dark fleet for ship-to-ship transfers

Growing ‘dark fleet’ carries sanctioned oil to China

More than 600 ships, often old tankers which are unsafe and whose ownership is obscure, are transporting Iranian and Venezuelan crude around the world. The numbers of vessels and cargoes are growing, industry experts told AGBI.  The ships turn off their transponders – a vessel’s automatic identification system or AIS – to go ‘dark’. They […]

Workers at Majnoon oil field in Iraq. Analysts do not expect the conflict to have a big effect on oil supply

Oil prices surge as conflict intensifies in Israel

Oil prices rose by more than 3 percent on Monday in the wake of Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, which threatens to destabilise the Middle East. Brent crude was trading at $87.65 a barrel, up 3.6 percent, by 17:41 GST while US West Texas Intermediate was at $86.15 a barrel, up just over 4 percent. […]

Moshiri Everton

British-Iranian businessman sells stake in Everton FC

British-Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri has sold his stake in English Premier League club Everton to Miami investment fund 777 Partners. It has signed a deal to acquire the former accountant’s 94 percent of the club’s shares. Monaco-based Moshiri invested in Everton in 2016 before taking a majority stake two years later. However, his time in […]

Rising inflation has led to Iran's citizens making tough choices about how they live

Iran seeks relief from inflation and FX shortages

The transfer of $6 billion in funds frozen by the US cannot come soon enough for Iran’s hard-pressed citizens.  As part of an agreement last month for the release of American-Iranian prisoners, President Biden’s administration has agreed to the release of the foreign exchange which had been blocked in South Korea.  Rising prices are at […]

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at the 2023 Brics Summit. The country will join the bloc in 2024

New Middle East members expand Brics reach

Four Middle East countries are to join the Brics bloc of developing countries, bridging regional political divides and signaling increased Chinese influence around the world. The new memberships of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as those of Argentina and Ethiopia, will be effective from 2024.  The decision to add […]

Iraqi Kurdish losses reach $2bn amid oil export halt

Iran set to raise oil output by 250,000 bpd this summer

Iran will produce an addition 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil by the end of summer, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday citing the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). “Iran’s oil production will reach 3.5 million bpd at the end of summer,” Tasnim cited NIOC managing director Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr […]

Iran water

Iran is running out of water, with little signs of progress

During the winter months, snowfall carpets the Alborz mountains that loom over Tehran, sending millions of gallons of water through the capital’s roadside drains known as jubes and world-famous qanat systems of underground aqueducts. Across the country, a series of naturally occurring lakes and rivers combined with reservoirs and dams combine to trap the snowmelt. […]

Iraq and Iran gas-for-oil barter faces US sanctions

A barter of Iranian natural gas for Iraqi oil as described by the Iraqi prime minister this week would likely violate US sanctions on Tehran unless the US issued a waiver permitting it, three former US officials said on Thursday. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani on Tuesday said Iraq would begin trading crude […]

Iranian oil minister Javad Owji

Saudi and Kuwait reassert claims to Durra oil field

Both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have made renewed claims that they own the disputed Durra offshore oil and gas field. The state news agencies of each country cited unidentified government sources saying they are the sole owners. The statements reignited a decades-old quarrel with Iran, which also asserts sovereignty over part of the area. Saudi’s […]

Iran, UAE, foreign ministers, Cape Town

UAE and Iran sign air transport deal

The UAE has signed an air transport services agreement with Iran as the two countries look to enhance trade and tourism relationships. The tie-up aims to better organise air transportation and strengthen air connections. A meeting in Dubai between Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE minister of foreign affairs, and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s minister […]

Iran’s oil exports hit 5-year high despite US sanctions

Iran’s crude exports and oil output have hit new highs in 2023 despite US sanctions, according to consultants, shipping data and a source familiar with the matter, adding to global supply when other producers are limiting output. Tehran’s oil exports have been limited since former US president Donald Trump in 2018 exited a 2015 nuclear […]

Iran natural gas crisis

Crisis looms for the Iranian natural gas sector

While the world’s attention has been focused on the sanctioned Iranian oil industry, another vital part of the country’s energy infrastructure is deteriorating – its natural gas sector. Iran’s domestic economy and its consumers depend far more on gas than they do on oil. But if urgent financial, technical and commercial support is not provided […]

Opec's Haitham Al Ghais told Adipec that the oil industry needs $600bn of investment a year

Opec ‘would welcome’ Iran once sanctions lifted

Iran has the capacity to add “significant production volumes within a short period of time” and would be welcomed back to Opec when sanctions are lifted, its secretary general said on Monday.  Iran is a member of Opec – the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries – but its oil exports are subject to US […]

Indonesia and Iran sign preferential trade pact

The leaders of Indonesia and Iran have signed a preferential trade agreement to expand economic relations during an official visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, speaking after a signing ceremony that was streamed online by his cabinet secretariat, hoped the agreement “would increase trade between Indonesia and Iran” but did not […]

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Iran growth forecasts cut but Gulf trade could rally

Growth forecasts for Iran’s economy have been cut as analysts see US sanctions remaining in place “for the foreseeable future”, but expanding trade with the UAE and improved relations with Saudi Arabia may help to cushion the blow. Fitch sees growth slowing to 2.3 percent in 2023-24 from a previous forecast of 5.8 percent because […]