Iran, China Close to Signing Major Oil Deal

[Nikki Stone 1]

Is this the subtext to a war with Iran?

http://copvcia.com/free/ww3/022306_world_stories.shtml#0

Kyodo News International, Tokyo 2/17/2006
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=29566


Iran and China aim to sign a multibillion-dollar deal at an early date to develop the Yadavaran oil field in southwestern Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday in its online edition.

The deal involving the oil field, estimated to be able to produce a maximum 300,000 barrels of oil a day, might thwart efforts by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to isolate Iran, the business daily said.

Iran recently resumed uranium enrichment on the pretext of developing nuclear power plants.

The deal, if concluded, would be the first major contract of its kind for Iran since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an outspoken critic of the United States, took office as president last August.

According to the memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and China in 2004, Iran will grant a 51 percent stake in the Yadavaran oil field development project to China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, and China will purchase 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually from Iran for 25 years.

Iran wants to strike the deal with China before the U.N. Security Council votes for economic sanctions, said Iranian oil ministry officials quoted in the Journal.