The Energy Ministry said Tuesday that it planned to sign a road map to outline future energy cooperation with Iran. The document will be signed Wednesday when Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi meets his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shmatko, in Moscow, the Energy Ministry said in a statement without providing details. Oil and gas majors Gazprom, Gazprom Neft and LUKoil have signed billions of dollars worth of deals to help Iran develop its oil and gas fields, but most projects are on hold because of sanctions. Representatives from gas pipeline builder Stroitransgaz could participate in the meeting to discuss a project for a 2,100-kilometer pipeline from Iran to India and Pakistan, Interfax reported.
Gazprom Neft confirmed that its CEO, Alexander Dyukov, would meet with Mir-Kazemi on Wednesday, the report said. At best, analysts said, the road map will reflect Russia's efforts to walk a safe path between international sanctions and Moscow's wish to maintain ties with a fellow oil and gas power. "The ministers will discuss the current situation in Russian-Iranian energy cooperation and will outline prospects for future cooperation," the statement said. "The ministries will study issues linked to the creation of favorable conditions to intensify and make cooperation in the energy sphere between Iran and Russia more concrete," it added. Russia voted for sanctions in the United Nations Security Council on June 9 that target the country's banking and shipping sectors because of Iran's failure to allay fears over its disputed nuclear program.
"Russian companies are taking a cautious approach to this country. ... They don't want to engage in politically risky and financially risky projects," Troika Dialog analyst Valery Nesterov said. "The maximum terms they can offer are oil services contracts which are not especially rewarding as they don't secure additional oil supplies for the companies." LUKoil — 20 percent owned by U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips — has declared a halt to its gasoline exports to fuel-hungry Iran. But state-controlled companies are unlikely to shut out investment or withdraw completely from Iran, a holder of vast untapped oil and gas resources. Gazprom has said it is bidding to develop the Azar oil field and has expressed interest in Iran's giant South Pars field.
The Kremlin's weight in Tehran is a key lever of influence in its relationship with the United States and the European Union, which fear Tehran is seeking to create a nuclear bomb. Iran denies that it is seeking nuclear weapons. "There is an understanding that Russia needs to engage with Iran at some level," said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at UralSib. "The last thing the U.S. would actually want is for Tehran to end up only speaking to Beijing, because that would limit U.S. backdoor access to Tehran." President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday said Iran was gaining the ability to build a nuclear bomb, remarks welcomed in Washington as a sign of growing international unity behind a tough line toward Tehran.
A senior Iranian lawmaker hit back on Tuesday, saying Moscow risked being manipulated by Western spies. "A powerful country like Russia should not be manipulated by American and British intelligence services," said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's Foreign Affairs and National Security Committee.
