Page 14 - MEOG Week 01 2021

MEOG NEWS IN BRIEF MEOG

POLICY trade with the Islamic Republic and refused to LG products in the Middle East, including
pay their debts, mostly oil money, to Iran. smartphones and home appliances such as
Korean delegation in Vienna of its frozen assets in several countries, washing machines, TV sets, air conditioners
Iran has repeatedly demanded the release
and telecommunications equipment.
for talks on Iran’s frozen including some $10 billion in South Korea, TASNIM
but Seoul has looked at Washington for a
assets permit to repay its debt. Iran welcomes cooperation
About $2.7 billion deposited by the Seoul
South Korea has sent a delegation to Vienna branch of Iran’s Bank Mellat is held by the with Gulf states
for talks with Iran and other countries over Bank of Korea, while more than $7 billion
how to resolve the issue of Iran’s frozen assets worth of Iranian oil money is stuck at the The Deputy Minister of Petroleum for
held in the East Asian country, its foreign Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank, International Affairs and Trading said:
ministry said. according to Yonhap news agency. South “Sanctions as a disturbing variable are not
Iran and the remaining signatories of Korea’s refusal to free them has caused a ineffective in our cooperation, but in the
a 2015 nuclear deal on Monday resumed diplomatic spat. years after the revolution we have had many
discussions to remove sanctions on the South Korea was the biggest client of disturbances and relying on rich domestic
Islamic Republic and bring the US back to Iranian gas condensate with 300,000 barrels capabilities can turn these threats into
compliance with the agreement. per day (bpd) on top of 100,000 bpd of crude opportunities and force the enemy to regret
The South Korean foreign ministry said oil, but the country stopped the imports even their threats.”
its vice foreign minister Choi Jong-kun had before the illegal US sanctions imposed on In the third instalment of his conversation
arrived in Vienna with a delegation to “explore Iran’s oil industry in November 2018. with Shana, Ahmad Asadzadeh, the Deputy
ways to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian Gas condensate is an ultra-light oil Minister of Petroleum for International
assets in Korea” through consultations on the which has a wide range of utilisation in the Affairs and Trading, outlined the latest status
sidelines with Iran and in coordination with petrochemical industry. of the Iranian gas export contracts to Iraq
the US, France, Germany and Britain. Last month, South Korea’s ambassador to and Pakistan and listed Iran’s conditions for
The US is not part of the Vienna talks Iran said his country has suffered badly from cooperation with Europe in gas exports.
because it has pulled out of the agreement, more than three years of US sanctions on the “Oil exports have fortunately gained
but it has sent a representative to the Austrian Islamic Republic. serious momentum with the efforts of our
capital to be kept abreast of the negotiations Yun Kang-hyeon said South Korea’s friends in the sales sector, and markets
by its European allies. petrochemical sector had been badly affected that were not even thought of before are
The parties are discussing a common by the sanctions because of its heavy reliance opening, and the result is that the Ministry
text which has incorporated Iran’s demands on Iranian oil supplies. of Petroleum in the first eight months of
regarding the removal of sanctions and its South Korea and Japan were the major the current calendar year, which began on
verification as well as US guarantees not to customers of Iran’s South Pars condensate, March 21 has delivered more than the amount
abandon its obligations again. favouring the grade for its rich naphtha promised in the hard currency budget to the
The former US administration under yield as well as its relative cheapness to other state treasury, and God willing, this process
president Donald Trump all but wrecked the condensate grades. will be strengthened by the Minister of
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) “We hope that problems can be solved Petroleum and the powerful sales team of the
after he abandoned it and restored the soon so that we can resume importing our Ministry.”
sanctions which the nuclear agreement had oil needs from Iran and this will be good for SHANA
removed besides imposing new bans under everyone,” said the ambassador.
different labels. Before the sanctions, Korean companies
South Korea and other US allies opted to also had a ubiquitous presence in Iran OIL
comply with the violation as they stopped which was a key market for Samsung and
Kuwaiti minister optimistic
about recovery

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Fares
voiced optimism for continued recovery of the
global economy despite concerns about the
Omicron coronavirus variant, the state news
agency said late on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the OPEC+ group agreed
to stick to its planned increase in oil output
for February because it expects the Omicron
coronavirus to have a short-lived impact on
global energy demand.
The group of producers comprising the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia
has raised its output target each month since

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 05•January•2022