Iran nuclear talks return may be months away: Minister

Market: Crude oil
31/08/21

Iran's new foreign minister has hinted that the country's return to the nuclear-deal negotiations could be months away, potentially pushing back any restoration of the country's crude exports.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in comments reported widely in Iranian state-owned media, said: "The other side understands that it will take two or three months for the new government in Iran to be established and be able to plan."

Iran's new President Ebrahim Raisi has said that his government would support any initiative that works towards the ending of US sanctions, but Amir-Abdollahian's remarks are the first suggestion of when that might be. The possibility that Tehran may not return to the table until late in the year will do nothing to assuage the unease that has been expressed recently by the European parties to the nuclear deal (E3), and could keep any increase in Iranian crude exports off the market until next year.

Talks to bring Iran and the US back into compliance with the deal — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — began in April under Tehran's previous government and were suspended following Raisi's 18 June election win. The negotiations, which have seen Iran and the US in contact only indirectly, have hit deadlock over several key points, among them a US request that Iran commits to follow-up talks on other contentious issues and an Iranian request that the US guarantees it will not unilaterally exit the deal again in future.

"While refusing to negotiate, Iran is instead establishing facts on the ground that make a return to the JCPOA more complicated," the E3 said this month. "We urge Iran to return to the negotiations as soon as possible with a view to bringing them to a swift, successful conclusion."

Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran is "not seeking to escape from the negotiating table" but that the new government wants a change in approach. "We do not accept the approach of wasting time, and the results must have tangible results in the interests of the Iranian people," he said.

A mutually-agreeable end to the JCPOA talks would lift some US sanctions on Tehran and mean that Iran could resume exporting crude without hindrance. At one point the US actions removed more than 2mn b/d of Iran's oil from the market and forced its production below 2mn b/d — a level not seen since the start of the Iran-Iraq war in the early 1980s. This recovered to 2.44mn b/d in July, according to Argus estimates, and Tehran should have little problem increasing exports fairly rapidly given the amount that is stored offshore.

How much there is to return to export markets is unclear. Last week tanker operator Frontline said that the amount of sanctions-busting trade in crude — from Iran and Venezuela — "seems to be taking place on a scale which both severely hurts the demand for freight in the compliant tanker market and distorts the global oil trade, displacing significant volumes of compliant oil".

By Ben Winkley

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Cop: EU, four countries commit to 1.5°C climate plans

Baku, 21 November (Argus) — The EU, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland have committed to submit new national climate plans setting out "steep emission cuts", that are consistent with the global 1.5°C temperature increase limit sought by the Paris Agreement. The EU and four countries made the pledge at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan today, and called on other nations to follow suit — particularly major economies. Countries are due to submit new climate plans — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — covering 2035 goals to the UN climate body the UNFCCC by early next year. The EU, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland have not yet submitted their plans, but they will be aligned with a 1.5°C pathway, EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said today. The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C and preferably to 1.5°C. Canada's NDC is being considered by the country's cabinet and will be submitted by the 10 February deadline, Canadian ambassador for climate change Catherine Stewart said today. Switzerland's new NDC will also be submitted by the deadline, the country's representative confirmed. Pamana's special representative for climate change Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez also joined the press conference today. Panama, which is designated as carbon negative, submitted an updated NDC in June. It is planning to submit a nature pledge, Monterrey Gomez said. "It is time to streamline processes to get to real action", he added. The UK also backed the pledge. The UK announced an ambitious emissions reduction target last week. The UAE — which hosted Cop 28 last year — released a new NDC just ahead of Cop 29, while Brazil, host of next year's Cop 30, released its new NDC on 13 November during the summit. Thailand yesterday at Cop 29 communicated a new emissions reduction target . Indonesia last week said that it intends to submit its updated NDC ahead of the February deadline, with a plan placing a ceiling on emissions and covering all greenhouse gases as well as including the oil and gas sector. Colombia also indicated that its new climate plan will seek to address fossil fuels, but it will submit its NDC by June next year . By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Cop: EU says finance draft text not acceptable

21/11/24

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21/11/24

Cop: EU says finance draft text not acceptable

Baku, 21 November (Argus) — The latest draft of the text on climate financing presented at the UN Cop 29 climate summit is not ambitious enough on mitigation — reducing emissions — and "clearly unacceptable," EU energy commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said today. Parties must agree at Cop 29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) — a new climate finance target — building on the $100bn/yr that developed countries agreed to deliver to developing countries over 2020-25. The text is the main outcome for the summit. "What we had on our agenda was not just to restate the [Cop 28] consensus but actually to enhance that and to operationalise that," but the text goes in the opposite direction, Hoekstra said. Parties to last year's Cop 28 summit in Dubai made an historic pledge to "transition away" from all fossil fuels. The EU has warned against any backsliding on this pledge . "We cannot accept the view that the previous Cop did not happen," Hoekstra said. A draft text on the mitigation work programme — a process that focuses on emissions reduction — was released by the Cop 29 presidency in the early hours of this morning. It does not mention phasing out or reducing fossil fuels in energy systems, or reference the agreement reached on the latter point at Cop 28 last year. Hoekstra indicated today's text does not provide enough clarity to allow the EU to put a concrete number on the amount of climate finance that should be available. The bloc has insisted the final number for climate financing can come only when other elements, including the structure and contributor base, are settled. But recipient country groups such as the G77 and Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) groups have expressed impatience at the lack of a concrete number. Minor bright spots in the numerous draft texts released overnight include those on Article 6, which governs international carbon credits, Hoekstra said. But the commissioner is "sure there is not a single ambitious country who thinks this is nearly good enough." By Rhys Talbot Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Mexico to keep some energy regulator independence

20/11/24

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20/11/24

Mexico to keep some energy regulator independence

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Baghdad clamps down on 'illegal' oil smuggling to Iran

20/11/24

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20/11/24

Baghdad clamps down on 'illegal' oil smuggling to Iran

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20/11/24

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20/11/24

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