Iran Won't Cut Oil Exports if Syria Attacked

[Dover]

Iran Won't Cut Oil Exports if Syria Attacked

by Hashem Kalantari and Sally Jones,
Dow Jones Dow Jones Newswires
July 27, 2006


Iran has no intention of halting crude oil exports due to the current crisis in the Middle East, its oil minister said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, said his country won't use oil as a weapon because of the current situation between Lebanon and Israel.

He also said the Islamic republic wouldn't cut crude exports in reaction to a possible attack by Israel on Syria.

"No, why should we directly link political issues to oil exports. We don't establish such links, political issues should be resolved politically," Vaziri said.

As fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, the U.S. is accusing Iran and Syria of being Hezbollah's main sponsors. Speculation is rife that both Iran and Syria could get drawn into the crisis.

Vaziri also reiterated that Iran won't impose an oil embargo if the U.N. Security Council takes a tough stance over the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions...cont'd

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=34581

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Iran and Japan Agree on Finalizing Oil Project
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)
Friday, July 28, 2006


Iran and Japan have agreed to finalize an oil project in Iran's southern Azadegan oilfields, Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh told the Mehr news agency Friday.

"If no new problems occur, the agreement letter will be finalized by the end of the current (Persian) month (August 22)," the minister said.

Iran and Japan signed the US$2-billion deal in October 2004. Related Products

It includes developing parts of the Azadegan oil fields in the Gulf but delayed its implementation in view of ambiguous nuclear plans.

"Japan is very interested to continue cooperation with Iran in the Azadegan project, and we will sign a new agreement," the minister added...cont'd

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=34625
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Persian Gulf Reserves
It has been common knowledge for many years that the Middle East is home to the world's largest resource base of oil. With over 700 billion barrels of reserves, the Persian Gulf states of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE hold nearly 60% of the world's conventional oil. Between them, these countries pump close to one third of the oil produced in the world each day.

In addition to crude oil, the Persian Gulf states also hold about 40% of the world's conventional natural gas reserves with more than 2,500 tcf. With the massive amount of energy resources concentrated in these few countries, it is easy to see why they are so important to the entire world and why the world watches intently when conflicts brew in the Middle East.

Iranian Oil and Gas
Iran currently has the world's third largest proved oil reserves with 133 billion barrels, which is about half the reserves of the world leader, Saudi Arabia. Iranian oil reserves represents about 10% of all the oil in the world, a huge proportion for a country with less than 1% of the world's population.

As such, Iran is a major exporter of crude oil. Each day, the country produces just under 4 million barrels of oil. But, with consumption of just about 1.5 million bpd, Iran has the ability to export 2.5 million barrels of oil each day. This makes Iran the world's fourth largest oil producer and the world's 5th largest oil exporter.

In addition to oil, Iran also has the world's second largest natural gas reserves, with about 940 trillion cubic feet of gas. These reserves, which account for about 15% of the world's conventional natural gas, are largely concentrated in the offshore South Pars field. This one field alone contains as much as 500 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.

MORE > http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=34621

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. Gotta keep the cash flowing

They'll just keep raising the prices instead.

Once more reason to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Legalize Industrial Hemp.

[Massacure]

5. Hemp isn't a suitable replacement or oil.

Algae dominates everything else in terms of yield per acre. It would be awesome to use hemp to replace wood pulp in paper and cotton in clothing, but it doesn't yield enough to adequately produce sufficient amounts of energy.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. Hemp is a suitable replacement for lots of things

and without including it in the mix of alternative options is a big mistake.

I'd much rather legalize hemp and see where the industry goes and what impact it has on things, before I would build another nuke plant.

[Massacure]

7. Hemp yields 39 gallons of oil per acre.

The United States uses 20 million barrels of oil per day, or 7.3 billion per year or 306,600,000,000 gallons a year. That means 7,860,000,000 acre of land would be needed, or 12,000,000 square miles, more than TWICE the area of the United States.

Algae yields about 5000 gallons of oil per acre. That would require about a million square miles, roughly 20% of the United States.

Here is a nice list of various crop yields:

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html

Algae isn't listed there but is believed to yield between 5,000-15,000 gallons per acre depending on conditions. I used the conservative estimate.

[mom cat]

8. More on Algae:

Algae — like a breath mint for smokestacks

By Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor
BOSTON — Isaac Berzin is a big fan of algae. The tiny, single-celled plant, he says, could transform the world's energy needs and cut global warming.

A smokestack at the Mitchell Power Plant in Moundsville, W. Va.
Charles P.Saus, AP

Overshadowed by a multibillion-dollar push into other "clean-coal" technologies, a handful of tiny companies are racing to create an even cleaner, greener process using the same slimy stuff that thrives in the world's oceans.

Enter Dr. Berzin, a rocket scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. About three years ago, while working on an experiment for growing algae on the International Space Station, he came up with the idea for using it to clean up power-plant exhaust.

If he could find the right strain of algae, he figured he could turn the nation's greenhouse-gas-belching power plants into clean-green generators with an attached algae farm next door.

"This is a big idea," Berzin says, "a really powerful idea."

And one that's taken him to the top — a rooftop. Bolted onto the exhaust stacks of a brick-and-glass 20-megawatt power plant behind MIT's campus are rows of fat, clear tubes, each with green algae soup simmering inside.

More at:http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-01-10-algae-powerplants_x.htm


It is so logical. Furthermore, a lot of rooftops could produce algae fuel as could covered parking lits, freeways, etc. It doesn't have to be on farmland.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Why does it have to be one or the other?

Why not both, plus lot's of other stuff?

The problem isn't that algae isn't a good alternative, I'm sure it is. But it is not an illegal substance. You want algae, I've got a lake full of it behind my house. Please come take it away. Hemp is ILLEGAL. That is the problem. We can't find out whether or not it is a good alternative not just for fuel, but for paper and cloth, because we are not allowed to grow it. There is no longer any good reason for Industrial Hemp to remain a banned substance, especially since it use would certainly have a great impact on reducing global warming.

[Toots]

11. How much more energy does it take to break down wood pulp than hemp?

Using hemp would actually save considerable energy. It may not be valued as an energy producer but as the old saying goes a penny saved is a penny earned..

[everythingsxen]

2. It sounds like Iran...

is backpedaling hard to keep from getting attacked.

They seem to be taking a 180 from their hard-line anti-Israel policy but stopping the Iranian Hezbollah volunteers and now this. I think Iran is just stalling for time though, to keep themselves clean and clear and free until the 22nd, which I assume as the deadline for making a decision on the diplomacy, is when they will conduct a nuke test. :nuke:

[rzemanfl]

In this poker game, why would they disavow the biggest chip in

their stack?

[AlamoDemoc]

3. This news is coming from "Dow Jones Dow Jones Newswires"

It would only mean their thinking on two scenarios; one is to make their long time investors at ease, or second, they are advising their investors "glad tidings" are coming.

[Purveyor]

4. Of course they won't. Why stop selling with the price spike to

$100+bbl in the event of any such attack.

[daleo]

9. Nobody really knows what Iran would do, until that day comes

Even the leaders of Iran don't really know. That's the nature of war - events spin out of control quickly.