Page 7 - DMEA Week 21 2021

DMEA POLICY DMEA

Iran agrees stop gap

extension of UN inspections

MIDDLE EAST IRAN and the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the a further month. One possible future difficulty is
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that the agreement does not give the UN experts
have agreed a one-month “stop gap” extension guaranteed access to the data after the June 24
of limited UN inspections of Iran’s nuclear devel- expiry, by which time Iran will have elected a
opment programme activities. new president. But if Iran and the US can find
The agreement, lasting until 24 June, was a way to restore the nuclear deal then the IAEA
announced on May 24, one day after the speaker will almost certainly be granted the access to the
of the Iranian parliament, Mohammed Bagher video recordings, including on Iran’s levels of
Ghalibaf, raised anxieties by saying that the pre- uranium enrichment. The JCPOA is designed
vious three-month agreement had expired and to ensure that Iran keeps its nuclear programme
indicating that it might not be replaced. A bar verifiably entirely civilian in return for a pledge
on UN inspections might endanger efforts under that its economy will not be targeted with major
way at talks in Vienna to find a path on which economic sanctions.
both Iran and the US can return to full compli- Iran’s chief negotiator in the nuclear deal talks,
ance with the nuclear deal, or JCPOA. Without Abbas Araghchi, spent four hours in front of the
an allowance for inspections, the JCPOA might national security commission of Iran’s parlia-
be regarded as beyond recovery. ment on May 23 outlining the foreign ministry’s
Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director general, negotiating position and the status of the talks.
said the new extension meant his inspectors “Very tough, but useful,” was how he char-
would not be “flying blind”. Fuller access might acterised the discussion on May 26 in a tweet,
be achieved in the future, he said. The deal states adding: “The bottom line is, having left the
that data filmed by IAEA inspectors inside Iran’s JCPOA, the US must first provide verifiable
nuclear plants over the past three months will sanctions lifting. Iran will then resume full
not be destroyed, while filming can continue for implementation.”™
FINANCE & INVESTMENT

ADNOC to continue cash

grab, again via fuel arm

AFRICA ABU Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) has ADNOC hired Citigroup Ltd First Abu
announced plans this week to raise $1.64bn Dhabi Bank to manage the share offering, with
through the sale of more shares and the issuance Citigroup, FAB and Abu Dhabi Commercial
of bonds in ADNOC Distribution. Bank brought in to work on the bond sale.
The company released a statement on May 26 Having opened 64 new fuel stations in 2020
in which it said it had offered 375mn shares in and four more in Q1 this year, the company said
the fuel subsidiary, representing around 3% of earlier this month it intends to continue its ambi-
its capital. tious expansion phase throughout the remain-
The shares are offered at AED4.36 ($1.18) der of 2021 and into 2022.
per share, roughly 10% lower than the market It said that it “intends to accelerate delivery
rate. Meanwhile, $1.195bn of senior bonds have momentum and remains on track to meet its
been issued with a maturity of 2024. These are guidance to open a total of 70 to 80 new stations
“exchangeable under certain conditions” into across the UAE and [Saudi Arabia] by year end,
ADNOC Distribution’s stock and represent a of which 30 to 35 are expected to be opened in
further 7% of its share capital. the UAE”.
The retail division was the second of the par- ADNOC has raised more than $20bn from
ent company’s subsidiaries to welcome foreign the sale or lease out and lease back of shares in
investment, when a 10% stake was listed during its oil and gas pipelines, real estate and refining
a late 2017 initial public offering (IPO). A fur- businesses, with IPOs under consideration for
ther 10% was sold in September last year and its ADNOC Drilling business and the Fertiglobe
the company is currently valued at AED60.6bn joint venture (JV) with chemicals producer
($16.5bn). OCI.™

Week 21 27•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7