Sleeping with the Enemy: BP’s Deals with Iran
BP remains one of the most active major western oil companies engaged in joint-venture energy projects with the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum outside of Iran. In the last five years, BP has begun extracting around 4 million cubic meters per day of natural gas from a field in Britain’s North Sea in a 50-50 joint venture with Iran, worth $1 million a day at June 15, 2010 spot prices.
By Massimo Calabresi at TIME.com
Like most of the major Western oil companies, British Petroleum has cut back its ties with Iran as international sanctions against the Islamic Republic have mounted in response to its nuclear program. BP several years ago halted investments larger than $20 million into Iran’s energy infrastructure, remaining below the threshold for penalties set by the 1995 Iran Sanctions Act. And in the second half of 2009, the company halted the sale of refined petroleum products to Iran, which Tehran needs because of its limited domestic refining capacity.
But BP remains one of the most active major western oil companies engaged in joint-venture energy projects with the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum outside of Iran. In the last five years, BP has begun extracting around 4 million cubic meters per day of natural gas from a field in Britain’s North Sea in a 50-50 joint venture with Iran, worth $1 million a day at June 15, 2010 spot prices. And BP operates one of the world’s largest gas fields in Azerbaijan in a joint venture with Iran and other foreign oil companies, producing 8 billion cubic meters of gas per year, worth up to a reported $2.4 billion per year.
Help Make A Difference By Sharing These Articles On Facebook, Twitter And Elsewhere: