Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: quelli che le sanzioni sì ma

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/46ff0e12-921a-11dc-8981-0000779fd2ac.html
Eni to maintain foothold in Iran
By Guy Dinmore in Rome
The Italian oil giant Eni intends to maintain a foothold in Iran while
acknowledging US-led pressure on international companies to cut
exposure to the country.
Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of the energy group, told the Financial
Times that Eni did not intend to expand its presence under current
political and commercial conditions and that the company would honour
UN decisions.
However, he also signalled that Eni had no intention of pulling out of
Iran, where it is one of the largest foreign investors: “We will stick
to our contracts,” he said.
It would not be “appropriate” for anyone to force Eni not to respect
its existing contracts, he added.
So far, UN sanctions imposed on Iran for refusing to suspend sensitive
areas of its nuclear development programme have not directly touched
its oil and natural gas sector. However, Gordon Brown, UK prime
minister, raised on Monday the possibility of imposing UN and European
Union sanctions in that area.
According to oil industry and US sources, the Bush administration,
acting with authority from Congress, has threatened non-US companies
with punitive measures should they sign new energy deals with Iran.
Asked about pressure from shareholders in the US, where divestment
campaigns are growing, Mr Scaroni said he would expect them to “react
to a major move on Iran”, adding: “But we are not there yet.”
He said instead Eni was waiting for Iran and the west to get their
relations “on a reasonable footing”.
Mr Scaroni said he did not know of any big western oil company
submitting bids in Tehran’s recent oil exploration licensing round. He
indicated that Iran might have to look elsewhere for investment:
“Maybe the Chinese”.
In mid-2001 Eni concluded long negotiations with Iran and signed a
$920m contract to develop the Darkhoein oil field. This addition to
three existing interests made Eni the largest foreign investor in Iran
at the time.
Mr Scaroni, who became chief executive in 2005, said projects were
going “reasonably well”. But expressing his dissatisfaction with the
commercial terms offered by Iran, he said Eni would not sign such “buy-
back” contracts again.
His comments echoed those of other western majors who accepted less
favourable conditions than offered elsewhere simply to gain a foothold
in Iran, described by Mr Scaroni as a “country with enormous
potential”.
Mr Scaroni said Eni had been present in Iran and Libya since the
1950s. That commitment is paying off with respect to Tripoli where Mr
Scaroni met Muammer Gadaffi, Libyan leader, last month. Eni has just
negotiated a 25-year extension of its oil and gas contracts in Libya,
albeit under tighter commercial terms reflecting higher world prices.
For many years Eni was the only major operating in Libya because of
the poor business climate under international sanctions. But in 2003
Tripoli moved to shed its rogue status by agreeing to dismantle its
nuclear weapons programme and accepting responsibility for the 1988
Pan Am bombing.
Libya was the most important country for Eni in terms of equity
production, Mr Scaroni said. Eni will also build its first gas
liquefier.
“Libya has a great future in gas. In Libya we did not move out. Nor in
Iran . . . When we maintain a presence long term it is always
positive.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

 Eni to maintain foothold in Iran
invece nahum non vede l'ora di nuclearizzarli, sti iraniani di
merda....è un vero peccato che i porci antisemiti italiani non siano
d'accordo con lui e con l'innato rispetto degli altri di cui è
portatore...