Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Business As Usual

French Foriegn minister might be naive however energy business is energy business as usual:

Forbes: Total says talks with Iran on South Pars gas project still ongoing
ANGOULEME, France (Thomson Financial) - It is unclear whether Total SA will be able to reach agreement with the Iranian government over the future of a huge liquefied natural gas development, whose projected costs have risen sharply, a company spokeswoman said.
'The costs have gone up a lot and we are reconsidering this project,' she said, declining to speculate on the chances of a deal being concluded.
Talks between the two sides on the 15 bln usd plan to develop part of the South Pars LNG field have been ongoing for several months, the spokewoman added. But their profile was raised at the weekend when acting Iran oil minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari cast doubt on the project's future. The high rate quoted by the French energy group on marketing LNG from the project which would force Iran to 'study the feasibility of this plan once again', the Financial Times quoted the minister as saying.
His comments came amid rising tensions between the two countries, fuelled by remarks by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that the world should brace for a possible war over Iran's nuclear drive.
The Total spokeswoman declined to speculate on the ramifications of the political spat.
'We are still in the middle of discussions. If we reach (a deal) we will also take into account the political factors,' she said.
tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com
afp/ejp/jms/jms/dca COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved

No comments: