December 10, 2007 04:01 EST
...Sinopec Group, as China Petrochemical is known, hopes to talk about liquefied natural gas supplies ``later,'' Iran's state news agency IRNA said today, citing Zhou Baixiu, president of Sinopec Group's international exploration and production unit. China is ``willing'' to buy LNG from Iran, Zhou said.
China, a veto-holding member of the United Nations Security Council, has resisted pressure from the U.S. to isolate Iran and impose a third round of international sanctions over the country's nuclear program. The Chinese government wants its oil and gas producers to step up their global search for energy resources to meet rising consumption, spurred by an economy that surged 11.5 percent in the third quarter....
A conversation with Robert Zoellick, former Deputy Secretary of State. Mr. Zoellick currently serves as International Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs. (click here)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Doing Business With The Enemy (click here)
Are U.S. Firms Doing Business In Nations That Support Terrorism?
Aug. 29, 2004 by Rebecca Leung
...In other words, there are U.S. companies that are helping drive the economies of countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, all places that have sponsored terrorists. Correspondent Lesley Stahl reported on this story last January....
Halliburton is welcome to pump Iran's Gas Glut (click here)
Halliburton Moves Its Headquarters Abroad (click here)
Critics Pounce on News of War Contractor's Planned Move From Houston to Dubai
March 11, 2007
The much-maligned defense contractor Halliburton is moving its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
"The Eastern hemisphere is a market that is more heavily weighted toward oil exploration and production opportunities," said CEO Dave Lesar at an energy conference in nearby Bahrain. "And growing our business here will bring more balance to Halliburton's overall portfolio."
The draw is obvious. Dubai's friendly tax laws will add to Halliburton's bottom line. Last year, it earned $2.3 billion in profits.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-N.H., called the company's move "corporate greed at its worst." He added, "This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years. At the same time they'll be avoiding U.S. taxes, I'm sure they won't stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard U.S. cash."...
While I agree with Senator Leahy that Halliburton is a 'toxic asset' of the worst kind, it isn't just 'greed' that drives their operations to Dubai. It would seem Halliburton and any affiliations hence (which might include China) need sanctions as well as Iran.
A general view shows the massive South Pars gas field
Borzou Daragahi in Beirut
March 16, 2009
IRAN has announced a $US3.2 billion ($4.9 billion) natural gas deal with China (click title to entry - thank you), a move that underscores the difficulty of using economic sanctions to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program....
China Warns Against Iran Sanctions (click here)
Official: Plan To Enrich Iran's Uranium In Russia 'Could Be Helpful'
BEIJING, Jan. 26, 2006
by Sean Alfano
(AP) China on Thursday warned that sanctioning Iran over its nuclear program could further complicate the dispute as it threw its support behind a proposal to allow Iran to enrich its uranium in Russia.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the Russian plan, proposed earlier this week when Iran's chief nuclear negotiator visited Moscow, "could be helpful to break the stalemate."
Kong's remarks came as Iran's High Council of National Security Secretary Ali Larijani met with Chinese officials in Beijing in an apparent bid by Tehran to strengthen support with another of its key allies.
"We agreed members of the (Non-Proliferation Treaty) have right to peaceful nuclear energy," Larijani told reporters after meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan....
China: Iran sanctions are not the solution (click here)
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-12-24 15:32
BEIJING - China on Sunday called on all sides to resume talks on Iran's nuclear programme, adding that although it supported the UN resolution to punish Iran, Beijing did not think sanctions could solve the problem.
"We hope that the resolution is earnestly enforced, but we also think that sanctions are not the objective and cannot be a permanent solution to the problem," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement.
The UN Security Council, of which China is a permanent member, voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology, an effort to stop enrichment work that could be used in bombs....
It would seem 'the enemy of Cheney's enemy' is Iran's friend.
Halliburton operates in Iran despite sanctions (click here)
How do U.S. contractors legally do business there?
By Lisa Myers & the NBC investigative unit
updated 12:24 a.m. ET, Tues., March. 8, 2005
It's just another Halliburton oil and gas operation. The company name is emblazoned everywhere: On trucks, equipment, large storage silos and workers' uniforms.
But this isn't Texas. It's Iran. U.S. companies aren't supposed to do business here.
Yet, in January, Halliburton won a contract to drill at a huge Iranian gas field called Pars, which an Iranian government spokesman said "served the interests" of Iran. ...
We have been at this juncture before, but with Russia and GasProm. The Iranian sactions that President Clinton due up unilaterally to control the development of Iranian missiles was honored by Russia and eventually they stopped their interest in Iranian Gas. That, however, has not been the case with the "W" administration when the global community took over the sanctions against Iran, while "W" simply wouldn't extend diplomatic relationships. When Clinton was faced with Russian interests in Iranian Gas Opportunities, he met with cooperation and mutual understanding. That. Does not seem to be the outcome after eight years of a Bush and China now demanding USA funds to 'fund their venture into Iran.' (click here) I find it odd that Goldman Sachs maintains such a sincere interest in Iran REGARDLESS of the country they sidle up to.
...No one at Goldman, Sachs would comment publicly on the Gazprom announcement. While Gazprom has good financial reasons, after the Russian stock market drop, to postpone the bond offering, both Gazprom and Goldman, Sachs have good political and strategic reasons not to force a challenge to the Clinton Administration now, American officials said, just when it is trying to salvage its Iran policy without starting a sanctions war with the rest of the world.
