Iran, which has the world's second largest gas reserves after Russia has not made enough efforts for exploiting its gas deposits.

MADRID, Spain,
Sept. 24--Iran has signed $4 billion contract with Spanish-Argentine oil giant Repsol YPF and Anglo-Dutch Shell for production of natural gas in the Persian Gulf.
Quoting the Thursday issue of the Spanish daily El Pais, IRNA reported that under the contract, the two companies would begin extraction and sale of Iranian natural gas from 2010.
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will be a party to the contract under which the bidders will set up two oil platforms in the Persian Gulf as well as installations for refining and storage of oil.
The companies would produce seven million tons of natural gas and one million tons of liquefied gas for sale in Europe and Asia.
El Pais said Repsol's entry to Iran as one of the world's oil-rich country indicates a big step towards expanding the Spanish company.
Shell announced the report in London on Wednesday but Repsol has not made any comments on the details of the contract in view of its confidentiality.
El Pais said the companies had taken advantage of the OPEC meeting in Vienna to negotiate the deal with Iranian officials and kept the agreement on the issue secret until its ratification by Iran's Guardians Council.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and the NIOC Head Mehdi Mir Moezzi signed the contract on behalf of Iran.
According to El Pais, once the contract is finalized technical studies and engineering activities would begin for the construction of platforms and installation of facilities for production and storage of oil and gas in Asalouyeh port in the southern province of Bushehr.
One of the two companies, entering the deal, will be engaged in drilling and extraction operations in the upstream sector by investing $1.5 billion, while the other one would be active in the downstream sector such as marketing, refining and distribution of gas with a total investment of $ 2.5 billion.
Based on the report, the NIOC would have a 50 percent stake in the project while the two companies will each have a 25 percent share.
The Spanish daily said the two platforms would have the capacity to produce 18 million cubic meters of natural gas a year.
It said that India, Asian region and Europe are the future markets for the products and Spain, Italy and the UK are the main European party to the process.
The conclusion of the contract was of high significance for Iran and the country is eager for speedy implementation of the project.
Based on the report, Iran, which has the world's second largest gas reserves after Russia has not made enough efforts for exploiting its gas deposits.
It said that Iran had inked the contract in the hope of becoming the world's leading gas exporter.

TEHRAN, Sept. 24--Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Safdar Hosseini said here Friday that private insurance companies can become operational under the provisions set in the fourth five-year development plan (2005-2010).
According to ISNA, the minister further stated that so far six private firms on the mainland and two in the free trade zones have started operations.
"Central Insurance of Iran supports privatization and private firms would face no legal barriers in entering the industry," he said, pointing to the Seventh Majlis decision on certain articles in the fourth plan on privatization of banks and insurance industry as being against the Constitution.
Hosseini added that the government expects the Expediency Council (EC) to decide on the amendment to Article 44 of the Constitution. "Once the EC makes a final decision, the pace of privatization in the insurance industry would speed up," he underlined.
Article 44 has restricted the privatization of main industries such as foreign trade, major minerals, banking and insurance.

TEHRAN, Sept. 24--Iran's chief WTO negotiator said Friday accession talks will get nowhere, if parliamentarians create further barriers to improving the country's foreign trade.
Esfandiar Ommidbakhsh, Iran's plenipotentiary representative to the World Trade Organization, told ISNA it remains to be seen how the lawmakers would react to efforts to encourage European and American firms to operate in Iran in the process of WTO entry.
"When national economy is not ready to open up to the regional and Islamic markets, how would they accept the presence of western companies in Iran," he said in clear reference to the parliamentary initiative to create new obstacles to attracting foreign investments by asking the government to seek parliamentary authorization before signing any foreign economic deal.
The official further noted that interaction with the global community calls for greater economic cooperation at the international level.
"The goals set in the 20-Year Perspective will certainly fail to translate into reality, if the fourth development plan (2005-2010) faces such obstacles from the beginning," he said, adding that the much-publicized 20-Year Perspective has stipulated that Iran must turn into the top economic power in the region.
Ommidbakhsh said earlier this week Iran needs to train experts and skilled negotiators in its bid to global trading body, adding that the privatization process is in desperate need of stability and discipline. "However, this does not mean a return to state economy," he said.
The United States continues to block regular applications by Iran to start membership negotiations.
The WTO, which currently has 147 members, sets legally binding rules on trade that are designed to give all countries a level playing field for selling their exports.

While the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its 2004 report, has placed Iran on the list of Asian countries with under one billion dollars worth of foreign investments, some Iranian officials have expressed skepticisms about the authenticity of UNCTAD figures.
They contend that statistics released by the UN body do not represent the actual status of foreign investments in Iran, accusing UNCTAD of obtaining wrong information from unofficial sources.
The director general of the Foreign Investments Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance told reporters last week that foreign firms invested some two billion dollars in Iran in the year to March 2004, stressing that foreign investments are expected to increase four-fold to reach eight billion dollars by next March.
Ahmad Mortazavi said Iran has officially objected to the UN report, asking UNCTAD to reveal its sources in assessing foreign investments in Iran.
The official further noted that the UN report puts the total value of foreign investments in Iran at $120 million last year, whereas the country has managed to attract $3.8 billion since March.
"An international body must not seek information from unofficial sources," he said, adding that Iran is planning to follow up the issue seriously.
Mortazavi said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance is the official body in charge of announcing information about foreign investments attracted by various economic sectors.
The official said the erroneous UNCTAD report would mislead international companies willing to invest in Iranian projects.
He stressed that given the huge foreign investments made in Iran's oil and gas sector, the country is among the top Asian targets for foreign investments.
"Despite international efforts to dissuade foreign firms from investing in Iran, the trend of attracting foreign investment has witnessed a constant growth since 1993," he said, adding that the country will attract larger amounts of foreign investments in coming years provided that political pressures do not impede the process.
"We are working on 34 investment agreements with foreign parties," he said, stressing that the parliament has so far approved of 30 foreign investment deals.

LONDON, Sept. 24--A senior British trade and investment delegation will visit Iran in November to examine grounds for economic cooperation between Tehran and London.
Michael Thomas, director for trade relations at the Middle East Association, who will head the team, told IRNA here on Friday that the delegation will be in Iran between November 19 and 23.
He further noted that the British delegation will visit Tehran, Kerman and the Persian Gulf island of Kish to discuss trade, economic and industrial cooperation with state and private sector officials.
The British Embassy in Tehran will also brief the delegation on Iran's economic conditions and investment procedures.
Noting that Iran is a country with great economic capabilities, Thomas expressed hope that bilateral trade would increase further.
He pointed to the 20-percent growth in the value in trade between Iran and Britain, the veteran businessman, who has visited Iran on several occasions, said Iran is a promising market for British investments.

While a cement project takes at least five years to become operational, a cement factory will go on stream later this year some two years after its construction began.

TEHRAN, Sept. 24--A senior economic official said here Friday that projects, for which loans worth one billion dollars were allocated from the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund, will become operational by March, adding that the fund has extended $4 billion for private sector projects.
Siamak Samimi-Dehkordi, acting deputy minister of industries and mines for planning, development and technology affairs, told Fars news agency that loans from the fund has helped cut down the duration of implementing industrial projects by 30 percent. "Since private companies which receive loans from Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund repay in dollars, they try their best to implement projects as soon as possible to avoid having to pay back higher amounts due to the fluctuations in parity rates," he said, stressing that while a cement project takes at least five years to become operational, a cement factory will go on stream later this year some two years after its construction began.
Asked if the strengthening of the euro against the greenback has discouraged private companies from applying for loans from the fund, the official said the Ministry of Industries and Mines is working out a mechanism to resolve this problem.
A senior Central Bank of Iran (CBI) official said earlier this month if oil prices remain above $30 per barrel until next March, some $6 billion will be deposited in the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund.
Mohammad Jafar Mojarrad, deputy CBI governor for foreign exchange affairs, told Fars news agency that some $900 million in surplus oil revenues have been deposited with the fund since late July.
Oil revenues in the first four months of the current fiscal year, commenced in March, were 50 percent above the target set by the current Budget Law.
State revenues from oil exports have been estimated at 6-7 billion dollars in the period.

TEHRAN, Sept. 24--External political pressures on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is the main obstacle to an Iranian candidate being elected as the organization's secretary general. Stating this, an advisor to the oil minister said Friday that Iran is entitled to the post after over 40 years.
Mohammad Javad Assemipour told ILNA that OPEC secretary general is seemingly not going to be appointed by the member states, adding, however, that Iran would be able to overcome the problem through diplomatic channel.
"Greater diplomatic moves are required at the regional level to solve this issue," he said, adding that Iran must focus on influential member states of the organization.
"Interaction with Saudi Arabia could be helpful."
The post of the organization's secretary general has been vacant for more than a year following the failure of member states to reach a consensus on the sensitive issue.
Iran and Kuwait are said to have greater chance to win the seat. This is while, Iran, which is OPEC's largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia, and is one of its founding members, last held the post of secretary general 40 years ago.

TEHRAN, Sept. 24--A senior Cooperative Chamber official said here Friday that Iranian businesses are seeking a long-term presence in Iraq despite the recent arrest of the chamber's personnel by US forces which brought bilateral trade to a standstill.
Mohammad Ebrahim Tehrani, deputy head of the chamber, told Mehr news agency that four personnel of the Cooperatives Chamber, who were held in Iraq by US forces, have now been handed over to the Iraqi police after 65 days in detention, adding that Iranian businesspersons face serious security problems in the war-ravaged country.
"Given the insecurity in Iraq, Iranian businesspersons prefer to conduct trade with their Iraqi partners without being present on the scene," he said, adding that the government of Iran must support Iranian businesspersons keen on undertaking trade in Iraq.
The official further noted that the situation has begun to improve in Iraq following the establishment of the provisional government, expressing hope that the Iraqi government would provide security for Iranian merchants.
"Iraqi authorities have expressed their regret over the arrest of Iranians," he said, stressing that the provisional government has promised to help organize trade with Iran.
Earlier, a senior member of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines (ICCIM) said the ICCIM is ready to participate in the construction of industrial units in Iraq, adding that the Iranian side can also help develop small industries and tourism sector in the war-ravaged country.
Fereidoon Entezari, deputy head of the ICCIM for international affairs, told ISNA that members of the two countries' chambers of commerce have reached several agreements on cooperation. "Our private sector is ready to invest in small industries and participate in the Iraqi reconstruction drive especially in the holy cities," he said, adding that private companies are willing to invest in small industries in Iraq.
He stressed that the Iraqi side is in pressing need of construction materials, power and petrochemicals, adding that Iran is ready to invest in building hotels as well.