China Forges Major Energy Ties with Iran

29 October 2004

AFP. China is making many large-scale investments with energy producers around the world. One of the most recent is a $70 Billion oilfield and LNG (liquefied natural gas) agreement with Iran.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday, China’s second-largest oil firm, Sinopec Group, will buy 250 million tons of LNG over 30 years from Iran and develop the giant Yadavaran field, said Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, deputy general manager of the National Iranian Oil Company.

“We’ve committed to sell Sinopec—after commissioning of the field—150,000 barrels per day of crude for 25 years at market prices,” Hosseini said.

LNG deliveries will not begin for at least five years as Iran struggles to catch up with industry frontrunners such as Qatar and Algeria, while the estimated 3-billion barrel Yadavaran field in the southwest will take at least four years to develop. Iranian oil officials estimate Yadavaran will ultimately produce around 300,000 bpd.

Iran has the world’s second-largest supply of natural gas (behind Russia), and is the second-largest OPEC producer (behind Saudi Arabia).

This may be an energy agreement, but it is a political one as well. China could provide an important block to any UN action on Iran’s nuclear program. And how eager would China be to see US intervention in one of its key energy allies?