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Iran JCPOA talks adjourn ahead of final push for deal

  • Market: Crude oil
  • 20/06/21

A sixth round of talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal concluded in Vienna today with a breakthrough still elusive. But Iran's deputy foreign minister, who has been leading the Iranian delegation, says the headway made to date gives him hope that an agreement can be reached when they reconvene for the next round of talks.

"In every round of talks we have made progress. Even in this round I think we made good progress," Abbas Araqchi said in the Austrian capital today. "And today, we are closer than ever to an agreement. But gaps still remain and closing those gaps will not be easy."

The negotiations began in the first week of April and have been aimed at reviving the nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by bringing both Iran and the US back into full compliance with their respective commitments.

Former US president Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in 2018, and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran's key banking and oil sectors. Tehran has since responded by scaling back its compliance under the deal.

Araqchi said the delegations participating in the talks – Iran, the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and the US – would all now return to their respective capitals to allow for more time to consult and "take decisions" before returning to Vienna for a new round of talks.

He did not say when he expected that seventh round would begin but did say that he hoped it would be the last.

"It is now clear what things are possible and what are not — so I think it is now time for all sides…to take their final decisions," he said. "And I hope that in the next round we will be able to close the remaining gaps, however difficult it might be, and reach a final conclusion."

Russia's top envoy to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, was equally optimistic saying an agreement was now "within reach" and that the next round "is supposed to be the final round."

New president

The next round, whenever it may come, will be the first to take place since Iran's 18 June presidential election which, as many expected, saw hardline judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi secure a landslide win.

Of the total 28.9mn ballots cast, 61.9pc were for Raisi, according to the interior ministry — enough to see him avoid a second-round runoff. Mohsen Rezaei, his closest rival, secured just 3.4mn votes, or 11.7pc of the total.

With Raisi not set to formally take office until early August, the outgoing administration of Hassan Rohani still has more than a month to get an agreement on the JCPOA over the line.

But even if the negotiations were to require more time and spill over into beginning of Raisi's term, this should not have too much of an impact on the talks because in Iran, the president does not dictate nuclear policy. That is left to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's ultimate decision-maker, who has made clear on numerous occasions his tacit support for the talks.

Raisi, too, has previously signaled his position, saying one of the new administration's "most important duties" would without a doubt be "to lift the oppressive sanctions."


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Opec+ eight to agree another accelerated hike for June


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London, 3 May (Argus) — A core group of eight Opec+ members look set to today to accelerate, for a second consecutive month, their plan to unwind some of their production cuts, four delegates told Argus . As it did for May, the group would again raise its collective output target by 411,000 b/d in June, three times as much as it had planned in its original roadmap to gradually unwind 2.2mn b/d of crude production cuts by the middle of next year. The original plan envisaged a slow and steady unwind over 18 months from April, with monthly increments of about 137,000 b/d. But today's decision would mean that the eight — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — will have unwound almost half of the 2.2mn b/d cut in the space of just three months. The decision to maintain this accelerated pace into June would be somewhat surprising, particularly given the weakness in oil prices and the outlook for the global economy. The eight's decision last month to deliver a three-in-one hike in May was seen as a key reason for the recent slide in oil prices, alongside US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Front month Ice Brent futures have fallen by about $13/bl since early April to stand at just over $61/bl. While Opec+ has said that it is acting to support an expected rise in summer demand, the decision to speed up the output increases once again appears to be driven by a desire to send a message to countries that have persistently breached their production targets — most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq. By Aydin Calik, Bachar Halabi and Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Eight Opec+ members weigh further acceleration


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02/05/25

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Chevron has not discussed Kazakhstan Opec+ target: CEO


02/05/25
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02/05/25

Chevron has not discussed Kazakhstan Opec+ target: CEO

London, 2 May (Argus) — Chevron has not held discussions with Kazakhstan about the country's Opec+ targets, chief executive Mike Wirth said today. Kazakhstan's production surged to a record 1.79mn b/d in March , following the start up of a new project at the Chevron-led Tengiz field in January. This left the country 322,000 b/d above its Opec+ target of 1.468mn b/d for the month. Kazakhstan has repeatedly vowed to comply with its Opec+ commitments, and said it would ask foreign operators at its Tengiz and Kashagan fields to reduce output. "We don't engage in discussions about Opec or Opec+ targets," Wirth said on Chevron's first-quarter earnings call today. "The barrels we produce at [Tengiz] are of high value to the government, they're important to their fiscal balance and historically those barrels have not been curtailed." Tengiz production was 901,000 b/d in March, compared with around 600,000-660,000 b/d before the new project came online. Italy's Eni, which is a key partner at the 400,000 b/d Kashagan field, made similar remarks last week. "Neither the operator of the asset, nor the shareholder and the contracting company have been engaged by the authority for any production cuts," said Eni's chief financial officer Francesco Gattei. Kazakhstan is one of the Opec+ alliance's largest overproducers, and there has been no indication that it has tried to reduce output in line with its targets. Kazakhstan's continued overproduction is understood to have contributed towards the decision by eight Opec+ members to add extra crude to the market in May . The eight will meet on 3 May to decide on production levels for June. Two delegate sources told Argus that another 411,000 b/d target increase for June remains a distinct possibility. By Aydin Calik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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