TEHRAN, March 4 (Xinhua) -- After more than three years of hardships, Iran is preparing to regain its fair share in the oil and gas market with the prospect of reaching a new nuclear deal with world powers in Vienna.
Iran has plans for the post-sanctions era to invest in its energy industries by opening new refineries, building new pipelines, and strengthening international relations to broaden economic opportunities.
PREPARATION
On Thursday, Iranian Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji said his country is "fully prepared" to restore its oil production and exports to the levels prior to the imposition of U.S. sanctions in November 2018, in case the negotiations in the Austrian capital should conclude with an agreement for a possible nuclear deal.
"Iran is technically and operationally able to stabilize its export share in the world market after the lifting of sanctions," Owji noted.
Iran's crude oil and condensate exports fell from about 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) to below 1 million bpd after the former U.S. government withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.
Earlier this week, Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance Ehsan Khandouzi also emphasized Iran's "special role in the oil and gas market."
The oil and gas sector is one of the advantages of the Iranian economy and will remain the same in the future, he said, adding Iranian officials focused on increasing the capacity of the oil and gas sectors for the growth of the Iranian economy.
Iran is reportedly shifting more oil onto ships in a move to speed exports should the ongoing talks in Vienna succeed in ending its exclusion from global energy markets.
"The amount of oil on tankers has jumped by 30 million barrels since early December to 103 million barrels," analysis firm Kpler was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
DIPLOMACY
To re-embrace the global energy market, Iran has also taken the initiative to expand its relations with other countries and international organizations.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi recently attended the sixth summit of the 11-member Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha, and urged the international community to resist U.S. "cruel" unilateral sanctions against other countries' oil and gas industry, according to the Iranian presidency's website.
Iran, a top holder of natural gas reserves, has considerable capacities for the production, transfer and export of hydrocarbon products and seeks to play a greater role in ensuring global energy security by expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation with neighbors and other countries, Raisi said.
Iran's regional strategy is based on increasing gas production and exports and providing regional nations with maximum access to clean fuel, he added.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Akhbari, a foreign policy expert, recommended the Raisi government to map out energy strategy based on geopolitics.
"Because of the lack of a geopolitical energy strategy, the Americans were able to impose sanctions on us in the field of energy and harm the country's economy," he said in an interview on Raisi's visit to Qatar with the official IRNA news agency.
Akhbari called on Iran to play a more active role in the Council of Gas Exporting Countries. "If we supply energy to other countries, including Europe, our security will be tied to their security and this will be very effective in eliminating threats against Iran."
NEGOTIATIONS
Iran said on Thursday that the Vienna talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal are in the final steps. "Extra efforts needed. Everybody is now focused on the final critical steps," Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted.
Likewise, "we are close to a possible deal, but a number of difficult issues still remain unsolved," U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters.
Enrique Mora, the European Union's coordinator for the talks, also said the international negotiations have entered the "final stages," but "some relevant issues are still open and success is never guaranteed in such a complex negotiation."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry in February confirmed talks with the Republic of Korea on resuming Iran's crude oil exports and unfreezing Iranian assets held in the East Asian country. Such a move was widely believed as a positive signal for the success of the Vienna talks as both topics in question are among Iran's key demands in negotiations aimed at salvaging the JCPOA.
Global oil prices, driven by the prospect of a new Iran deal, steadied on Thursday after surging to their highest levels in almost a decade. Europe has also struggled with higher gas prices for months.
"They should have thought about it before imposing illegal sanctions on Iran's oil and gas," Mohammad Marandi, an advisor to Iran's negotiating team in the Vienna talks, tweeted recently.
"Western regimes brutalized Iranian citizens, but if they want oil and gas they must accept Iran's red lines at the nuclear talks," he said. ■
