Page 8 - MEOG Week 25 2022
P. 8
MEOG POLICY & SECURITY MEOG
Tehran ‘drops’ nuclear deal demand
that US take IRGC off terror list
IRAN TEHRAN has reportedly dropped its condition the Iranians. Middle East Eye quoted a source
that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying that Iran, in a new proposal, dropped
(IRGC) be removed from Washington’s list of the IRGC demand, but called for the lifting of
foreign terrorist organisations (FTOs) as part of sanctions imposed by the US against Khatam-al
any agreement on reinstating the 2015 nuclear Anbiya Construction Headquarters, an eco-
deal. It is widely thought that this demand may nomic arm of the IRGC, and a few other entities.
be the last obstacle that needs overcoming in Another source told the publication that the
order to get the ‘Vienna talks’ restarted for a final US was yet to respond to the offer, which was
negotiating phase that would deliver a path to a seen as a “middle way” solution. Statements from
resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of US officials in recent days have offered no indi-
Action (JCPOA). cation that the Biden administration will accept
Middle East Eye on June 19, citing anon- the proposal.
ymous sources, reported the apparent The JCPOA is designed to curb Iran’s nuclear
breakthrough. programme to ensure it stays entirely civilian,
US President Joe Biden is in a difficult posi- with Tehran benefitting from the lifting of eco-
tion when it comes to the presence of the IRGC nomic sanctions in return.
on the FTOs list. While there is some sympathy Iran is thought by some experts to be only
that the FTO designation is not meant for state weeks away from a nuclear “breakout”, meaning
entities – the IRGC is the only state entity on the it would have enough highly enriched uranium
list thanks to an unusual April 2019 decision for the making of one nuclear bomb.
taken by former US president Donald Trump Weaponising the uranium to make a nuclear
– Biden, with the US mid-term elections ahead missile might take a few more years, though,
in November, can ill-afford a move that Repub- hypothetically, a crude nuclear device could be
lican hawks on Iran would present as soft on assembled, analysts say.
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
QatarEnergy adds more JVs for NFE
QATAR QATARENERGY has followed up on last week’s level of 77mn tpy to 110mn tpy by 2027.
deal to include TotalEnergies in its North Field QatarEnergy said first LNG cargoes from the
East (NFE) LNG expansion with the signing of latest phase are anticipated by the end of 2025,
joint venture (JV) agreements with three more but the Qatari NOC did not provide an update
IOCs. for the output expansion. The 2027 date would
Last week, the French super-major took a represent a one-year delay compared to previous
25% stake in a JV – assumed to be called NFE guidance from Doha.
1 – with the Qatari firm running until 2054. The The JVs now account for 75% of NFE equity
JV was awarded a 25% stake in NFE, providing and a note from UK-based consultancy IGM
QatarEnergy 18.75% of equity and with its part- Energy said that the current IOC slate looks
ner taking 6.25%. set to account for around 19% of NFE capex.
Since then, JVs have been formed with Ita- Qatari Energy Minister and President and CEO
ly’s Eni (NFE 2) and US firms ConocoPhillips of QatarEnergy HE Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi
(NFE 3) and ExxonMobil (NFE 4). The latter has previously said that the company’s partners
was the only one to be attributed the same equity could provide up to 30% of the project’s funding.
weighting in the LNG expansion project as that Against this backdrop, Reuters reported
of TotalEnergies. this week that state-owned China National
NFE 2 & 3 was awarded stakes of 12.5% each Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and Sinopec are in
in the project, giving Eni and ConocoPhillips advanced talks to acquire shares of 5% each in
equity shares of 3.13%. separate JVs.
The $28.75bn NFE development comprises Meanwhile, the companies are also negotiat-
the drilling of 80 wells, installation of eight off- ing terms on long-term LNG supply contracts
shore platforms, gas pipelines and four 8mn covering 4mn tpy each for a period of up to 27
tonne per year (tpy) LNG trains, which will raise years, accounting for one full train between
Qatar’s liquefaction capacity from the current them.
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