Iran Offers To Export Electricity to Pakistan & India At Subsidised Prices.

*** Tehran Tenders Big Condensate Refinery At Bandar Abbas 

*** Tehran Refinery Units Contracted To Raise Output Of Gasoline By 2M L/D To 10 Million L/D

*** SABIC & Exxon Are Jointly To Produce Synthetic Rubber 

*** GCC States Are To Share Fuel Stocks In Event Of Emergencies

*** GCC Income & GDP Will Decline In 2007 But They Will Become The World's Biggest Investors In E&P

*** Oman Is Having Higher Income & Reserves This Year, With Boom Also In The Gas Sector & Customs

*** Rosneft & CNPC Are To Have A Joint Refinery And Gasoline Retail Stations In China And E&P In E. Siberia & The Far East

Iran has offered to provide electricity at subsidised prices to Pakistan and India. This would be supplied first by linking the power grids of Iran and Pakistan. At a later phase, a new power line will be built alongside the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline for natural gas. If the pipeline is extended later to reach China, as India has proposed, then the power line could eventually go to the Chinese market as well.

The offer was made last week by Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Masha'-Allah Shakeri during his meeting with Pakistani Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi. At the meeting, the two states also agreed to establish a joint venture to exchange expertise to increase investment opportunities in the water and power sectors.

Iran is expanding its electric power sector through a variety of projects, including nuclear energy. Several nuclear power plants are to be built in the coming years. According to a plan discussed by a highly-placed APS source, eventually nuclear energy will be generating up to 22,000 MW. Iran by 2025 will have a total generat-ing capacity of 67,000 MW, with the power sector to consist of thermal, nuclear and hydro-electric plants.

Appreciating the economic development of Pakistan, the Iranian ambassador offered to make investment in the water and power sectors, particularly in the construction of dams. Regional and global issues along with bilateral trade relations were discussed at the meeting. The facilitation of the investment procedures in the power sector has attracted increased foreign investment, Jatoi said, adding that the demand for electricity in Pakistan had crossed 18,000 MW, while the existing availability of power was only 13,500 MW. Jatoi invited the Iranian government to participate in major hydro-electric power projects through competitive international bidding, including the Basha dam project.

Iran's Fund for Export Development of Oil Derivatives (FEDOD) is to send a delegation of 30 experts in the petroleum and petrochemicals industries to Beijing and Hong Kong. The FEDOD's Managing Director Pedram Soltani says China is currently Iran's major partner in the import of Iranian crude oil petrochemical products and Iran is keen on Chinese investment in the two sectors.

Soltani says there are ample opportunities to develop industrial co-operation between Iran and China, mainly in the fields of petroleum and petrochemicals. The FEDOD was sending the delegation in co-operation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran (TPOI) on Nov. 12-19. The delegation is comprised of managers of major private companies active in the petroleum industry and petrochemicals. Co-ordination has been made to hold seminars in both Beijing and Hong Kong to introduce opportunities for Chinese investment in Iran's petrochemicals industry and the petroleum sector.

The state-owned Sinopec is close to finalising an agreement with National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) to develop the onshore Yadavaran oilfield. APS learns that the agreement will be based on a "partly revised" master development plan (MDP) for the field, on which negotiations have been going on for several months. The field is to have a sustainable capacity to produce more than 300,000 b/d.