CNOOC Operations in Iran

The Iranian government and Chinese company CNOOC signed a US $15 billion contract in September 2006 to develop North Pars field, but China has not started operational activities of this project yet as of August 2012. According to analyst Richard Weitz, 'the terms of this $15 billion project, which aimed to be completed in 2015, would allow CNOOC to receive half of its LNG output.

In a leaked diplomatic cable from 2008, in a discussion with the US Economic Minister-Counselor, CNOOC's External Affairs Section Director Lu Xiaofeng emphasized that CNOOC's cooperation with Iran is driven by commercial interests and stressed that CNOOC has no intention of becoming entwined in political issues. He reiterated that CNOOC complied with international and Chinese laws as well as UN Security Council resolutions on Iran. Lu claimed that CNOOC's cooperation with Iran was still at a preliminary stage and pointed out that CNOOC had not yet made any substantial investments in Iran. CNOOC was conducting an internal evaluation to analyze potential risks of cooperation with Iran, he reported.

= References =