The dispute between Iran and Crescent Petroleum over gas exports to the UAE rumbled on after an Iranian energy official stated that there will be no more exports until an agreement is reached over price.
Iran’s oil minister Gholamhossein Nozari told the news gathering agency IRNA that despite a 25-year deal currently being in place for gas to be exported from one of the country’s offshore fields to the UAE, a new price should be paid that reflects the current market.
“Not until the price issue, as the focal point of the contract, is adjusted will we begin exporting any gas. After this is dealt with, we will consider their demand for additional gas in a supplementary contract,” Nozari told IRNA.
Crescent Petroleum, the UAE-based company behind the gas exports have insisted that a new price has been agreed with Iran after long negotiations. However, the state-owned energy company the National Iranian Oil Company issued a denial stating that that a price had not yet been agreed.Â
Iran stated that their state auditors have wared that the country could lose up to US$21 billion if the 25-year deal is not changed.
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