Page 7 - DMEA Week 26 2022
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DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA
Beyond Angola LNG – eventually appears to be more focused on Angola LNG.
The government does appear to have broader This may be because it has not yet taken all the
long-term ambitions for gas beyond Angola steps (or raised the money) necessary to realise
LNG. its ambitions with respect to the development of
Barroso told MPs on June 23 that Luanda a more extensive value chain, but it may also be
hoped to use NGC’s production to supply gas to related to the fact that world gas markets are cur-
domestic consumers and achieve self-sufficiency rently in turmoil because of increased European
in LPG production. demand.
Gas also has the potential to serve as feed- In other words, Angola does have certain
stock for petrochemical and fertiliser plants and incentives right now to focus on looking for ways
as a source of fuel for industrial facilities and to bolster the gas sector and ensure the LNG
thermal power plants (TPPs), he said. plant’s access to feedstock in order to guard its
In turn, he added, all of these industries and ability to serve European markets in the wake of
enterprises are likely to have a knock-on effect, Russia’s invasion of Europe. But it will also have
creating more jobs and attracting more invest- to invest in local capacity if it wants to make the
ments in related sectors of the Angolan economy. shift from export-oriented gas operations to
For the moment, though, the government domestic gasification.
POLICY & SECURITY
Indirect talks between Iran,
US end without agreement
MIDDLE EAST TWO days of indirect talks between Iran and the coming to fruition is the US insistence on its
US in Qatar arranged in an attempt at ending a proposed draft text in Vienna [where the previ-
deadlock over how to relaunch the 2015 nuclear ous rounds of talks took place over the course
deal, or JCPOA, between Tehran and the major of 11 months until March] that excludes any
powers on June 29 ended without an agreement, guarantee for Iran’s economic benefits,” Iran’s
according to Enrique Mora, the envoy of the EU, semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported,
which brokered the negotiations. citing informed sources at the talks.
The talks ended without the progress “the Tehran’s insistence that Washington remove
EU team as coordinator had hoped for”, Mora the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),
tweeted after the end of the talks. a state entity, from its Foreign Terrorist Organi-
“We will keep working with even greater zations (FTO) list is thought to be the key obsta-
urgency to bring back on track a key deal for cle preventing Iran and the US from sealing an
non-proliferation and regional stability,” Mora agreement.
added. The JCPOA was formulated to verifiably
Mora shuttled between Iran’s nuclear talks curb Iran’s nuclear development programme to
representative Ali Bagheri Kani and Washing- ensure it stays entirely civilian.
ton’s special Iran envoy Rob Malley at the venue In return for complying with the pact, Iran is
in Qatar where the talks were held. supposed to be rewarded with the lifting of eco-
“What prevented these negotiations from nomic sanctions.
Week 26 30•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7
