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block in the west of the country. It halted work in 2006 due to sanctions, but signed several basic agreements for new projects when the 2015 deal was reached.
Indian refiner Nayara Energy, one of India’s biggest buyers of Iranian oil, began cutting imports this month after the US scrapped the nuclear deal with Tehran and said it would re-impose heavy sanctions, three people familiar with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on June 11.
Previously known as Essar Oil, Nayara was bought by Russian state oil-giant Rosneft and partners in a $12.9bn deal last year. It typically buys around 5.5-6mn barrels a month from Iran, according to data made available by industry and shipping sources to the news agency.
India is the world’s third largest oil consumer and is expected to become the largest by 2040. It has few domestic reserves so imports 80% of its oil, with Iran presently its third-largest oil supplier. India is Iran’s second largest oil customer, trailing only China. The Indians imported 27.2mn tonnes of crude worth $11.1bn from Iran between 2017-2018 taking advantage of the lifting of economic sanctions against Tehran by the nuclear deal introduced in January 2016.
Lukoil, Russia’s second biggest oil producer, on May 29 said it would not presently go ahead with plans to develop projects in Iran due to the threat of US sanctions. Lukoil has been in talks with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) since December over developing the Abe Timur and Mansuri oil fields. On a related note, BP has also said on May 22 it is deferring further work on the Rhum gas field in the North Sea that it co-owns with a subsidiary of NIOC due to impending US sanctions , according to the UAE’s The National . The long-running saga of the jointly-owned gas field dates back nearly a decade, with the project having had to stop gas production in 2010 when the EU and the UK applied sanctions to NIOC. Given BP's significant stakes in US energy extraction, the British energy giant has decided to cool its relationship with its Iranian partner. BP is believed to generate roughly $31mn of annual profit from the joint operation, 50:50 owned by itself and NIOC. Companies such as Poland’s PGNiG, Germany’s Wintershall and French energy major Total, among many others, look set to avoid irking Washington. They seem unlikely at this point to keep their current business ties with Iran.
9.2.2 Automotive corporate news
Chinese and other East Asian automakers assembling vehicles in Iran have slowed or ceased sales because of the stark devaluation of the Iranian rial (IRR) by more than 100% since early April to weaker than 80,000 to the dollar, several industry insiders have disclosed.
Such manufacturers previously saw Iran as a cash cow for their vehicles as the market is heavily controlled by government pricing. Foreign players, including Beijing-based companies, were at times able to charge twice for their cars as they would in mainland China. China has come to regard Iran, home to 80mn people, as its next best near-home auto market. Several Chinese companies had a substantial presence at the 2018 Tehran Auto Show. The Chinese auto firms outnumbered European companies seven to one.
However, their relationship with the Iranian market has grown rather strained. According to one report on social media, a local company representing a Chinese firm which sells 4x4 Haval-branded vehicles had its showroom
42 IRAN Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com