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Japan keen on development of oil field in Iran
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August 21, 2003, 09:15
Japan is still keen to strike a deal with Iran to develop a giant oil field, but remains concerned about Tehran's nuclear programme, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said today.
A Japanese government-backed consortium missed a June 30 deadline with Iran to seal the $2 billion deal to develop Azadegan, one of the world's largest untapped oil fields, following pressure from the United States to back away from it. Tokyo has lost the exclusive rights to the project.
However, Japan does not intend to withdraw from negotiations with Iran, the Foreign Ministry official said, reiterating that Tokyo was weighing concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme against its own energy needs. "What we have been saying is that both are important," the ministry official said, adding that negotiations were still going on. He declined to say when a deal might be reached.
Iran - Japan's third-largest oil supplier - said this month it still favoured signing a deal with the Japanese consortium to exploit the Azadegan oil field, although it had entered talks with other companies. However, Iranian officials have warned they might hand the Azadegan contract to other companies if Japan continues to hold off under pressure from Washington, which accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons technology.
The international community has been pressuring Iran, which says it needs nuclear power to meet booming domestic demand for electricity, to sign the Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The protocol would allow snap inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities. The Foreign Ministry official said Japan wants Iran to sign the additional protocol but has not made that a condition for reaching a deal on the oil field.
"We have not said it is a pre-requisite. We are leaving that separate for now," the official said. Japan has never been comfortable with the inclusion of Iran in Washington's "axis of evil" and has kept friendly ties with the pro-reform government of Mohammad Khatami, the Iranian President .
The Japanese consortium includes the government-backed Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (JAPEX) and INPEX Corp as well as Japanese trading house Tomen Corp. - Reuters
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