UPDATE 2-Iran's oil minister blames U.S. for market tensions
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made the U.S. economy one of his top issues, has repeatedly tweeted about oil prices and the Organization of the Petroleum Producing Countries. He has expressed concern about higher prices, including last month and ahead of OPEC's meeting in December. "Americans talk a lot and I advise them to talk less. They (have) caused tensions in the oil market for over a year now and they are responsible for it, and if this trend continues, the market will be more tense," SHANA quoted Zanganeh as saying.
U.S. crude futures briefly hit a 2019 high on Friday but later retreated along with benchmark Brent oil as worries about the global economy and robust U.S. production put a brake on prices. OPEC and its allies including Russia, an alliance known as OPEC+, agreed last year to cut production, partly in response to increased U.S. shale output.
Washington granted waivers to eight major buyers of Iranian oil after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran's oil sector in November, after withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. "We do not know whether U.S. waivers would be extended or not, we will do our job but they (the U.S.) say something new every single day," Zanganeh said.
Zanganeh was speaking at a news conference ahead of the planned inauguration on Sunday of four development phases at South Pars, the world's largest gas field, by President Hassan Rouhani. He said Iran had invested $11 billion to complete the phases 13 and 22-24 of the giant field, which Tehran shares with Qatar, and expected to operate 27 phases by next March, SHANA reported.
France's Total and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) suspended investment in phase 11 of South Pars last year after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on companies that do business in Iran. But Zanganeh said talks with CNPC were continuing.
"Negotiations are ongoing. A senior delegation from China is due to come to Iran for talks. They have promised to come to Iran soon," said Zanganeh, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Marguerita Choy)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Donald Trump
- Donald Trump Jr.
- Presidency of Donald Trump
- This Is Us
- Two Of Us
- Us Weekly
- Christian ministry
- Youth ministry
- Ministry of Interior
- Reinventing organizations
- International organization
- Charitable organization
- Iranian peoples
- Buyers Products Company
- First-time buyer
- Dallas Buyers Club
- Companies House
- Axis & Allies
- Normandy landings
- Central Powers
ALSO READ
NASA selects companies to develop lunar terrain vehicle for Artemis Moon missions
US Domestic News Roundup: Trump loses bid to delay hush money trial until US Supreme Court review; Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders push companies to cut cost of asthma inhalers, prescription drugs and more
NATO allies aim to send more air defence aid to Ukraine but make no concrete pledges
UPDATE 4-NATO allies aim to send more air defence aid to Ukraine but make no concrete pledges
President Macron says France and its allies ''could have stopped'' the 1994 Rwanda genocide and “lacked the will to do so”, reports AP.