of a billion dollars to develop Iran’s South Pars gasfield, a huge investment by a developing country in Iran.
President Ahmadi-nejad last week received Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Ivo Morales as they visited Tehran on successive days.
Chavez appeared dedicated to developing a two-way relationship, but Morales seemed more concerned about how much funding he could extract from the Islamic Republic.
This was Chavez’s ninth visit to Tehran in the six years that Ahmadi-nejad has been president. Chavez said Venezuela would stand beside the Islamic Republic “under any circumstances.” He said, “Venezuela considers cooperation with Iran as a holy matter,” a curious choice of words for the leader of a Catholic country to use in describe relations with an Islamic state.
While Chavez was in Tehran, 11 more deals were signed between the two countries, adding to the dozens that have been signed since Chavez and Ahmadi-nejad joined hands in an anti-American alliance. The two men denounced “imperialism” and called for a “new world order.”
The new deals included the establishment of a joint oil shipping company and joint construction of petrochemical plants. Others provide for the two countries to build a refinery in Syria and for Iran to build 35,000 more residential units in Venezuela. Iran is already building 10,000 houses there.
One of the deals provided for Venezuela’s state oil company to participate in developing South Pars, the world’s largest oilfield. But it was only after Chavez left that the project manager for South Pars Phase 12, Hamid Akbari, announced how huge the Venezuelan investment would be. He said Petroleos de Venezuela would finance 10 percent of the $7.8 billion project, making for an investment of $780 million.
Angola’s Sonangol group already holds a 20 percent stake in Phase 12, with Iran’s national oil company holding the remainder.
Akbari said that so far $2.3 billion has been pumped into Phase 12.
Bolivia’s Morales arrived a few days after Chavez left. It was Morales’ second visit in two years. Iran’s PressTV said Morales wanted to discuss details of a planned $287 million Iranian investment in Bolivia’s minerals and textiles sectors. That would apparently be on top of $1.1 billion in projects agreed on previously.
Morales announced he was buying 1,000 tractors from the Tabriz tractor plant and wanted Iran to build a tractor plant in Bolivia like the one it has already built in Venezuela.