Gholam-Hossein Nozari.

The Petroleum Minister since November 2007, Nozari until then was deputy minister and CEO of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC). Previously, Nozari used to head one of NIOC's main oil producing units. As minister he succeeded Vaziri, who was dismissed in August of that year. So at first, Nozari was made interim minister. His only became permanent minister on Nov. 14 of that year when his nomination by President Ahmadi-Nejad was approved by the Majlis.

Nozari is a petroleum engineer who in late 2005 succeeded Dr. Mehdi Mir-Moezzi as CEO of NIOC after the latter was relieved of this post. Close to the IRGC but with experience in the petroleum sector, Nozari as head of the NIOC producing unit on Sept. 5, 2006, told reporters: "We are not close to the 5.3m b/d target of the fourth plan (2005-10). He noted that more than 80% of the country's crude oil output was being provided from ageing fields which needed massive investment and advanced technology.

This 5.3m b/d production capacity target has since been missed repeatedly. Now Nozari says he hopes the 5.3m b/d capacity would be reached before 2014, though privately he and his close aides admit that this could prove too ambitious in view of lack of IOC interest in Iran's buy-back

formula, under which a foreign company gets a fixed fee for developing a field and gets its costs recovered from the project's production. But the period of a buy-back contract is between five to seven years. As soon as a field has been developed, this is taken over by the NIOC operating unit in whose area the project is located. But the foreign operator risks paying a penalty if the field's test operations fall below mutually agreed expectations.

The main challenge for NIOC and its operating units, Nozari keeps saying, is "maintenance of oil reservoirs and increasing the recovery rate". But plans for oil-fields needing big IOC investment have been delayed by protracted negotiations over disputes on rising costs. Addressing a Dubai conference on April 16, 2007, Nozari said despite the growing world investments in alternate energy sources and the rhetoric of reducing foreign dependence on hydrocarbons, oil and gas will remain the main sources of energy for several decades.>

Nozari's appointment as petroleum minister on Nov. 14, 2007, was endorsed by the conservative-dominated Majlis, where he won 217 votes from 246 MPs present in the house. On the following day, Nozari told reporters that the buy-back formula was to remain the only form of contract for "those who are interested" in developing Iran's oil and gas fields. The buy-back formula also applies to downstream petroleum projects in the country.

Nozari on April 20, 2009, said OPEC's next ministerial conference to be held in Vienna on May 28 would cut oil production to help lift world crude oil prices. He said a crude oil price of between $70-$80/b was good for global economic recovery. But his UAE counterpart Muhammad bin Dha'en al-Hamili said a crude oil price at $50/b fine, a point stressed by other OPEC moderates like Kuwait led by Saudi Arabia.

On April 24, OPEC Secretary-General 'Abdulla Salem al-Badri of Libya said he did not expect the organization will cut oil production at it next ministerial meeting. Despite signs of even weaker crude oil demand and swelling oil inventory in big energy consuming nations, Badri said, OPEC first needed to fully implement an agreement announced in December to remove 4.2m b/d from world markets, a point stressed repeatedly by Saudi Petroleum & Mineral Resources Minister 'Ali al-Nu'aimi. With Saudi Arabia producing about 7.7m b/d, more than 300,000 b/d under its quota of over 8m b/d, Na'imi has warned that continued non-compliance with OPEC quotas by other members, such as price hawks Iran and Venezuela, would lead to a free-for-all situation and that could eventually result in an oil price war (as explained in news16SyrIrnIsrArabApr20-09 & omt16IranExprtApr20-09).

Iran is still producing 3.75m b/d, 414,000 b/d over its OPEC quota. Venezuela, Algeria and other non-GCC members of OPEC continue to produce over their quotas. All these countries are in dire need of cash, their economies battered by the fall in paper WTI and Brent prices and by the worst credit crunch the global economy has ever encountered.

Visiting Total's pavilion at the 14th International Exhibition of Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals (Oil Expo) in Tehran which he opened on April 21, Nozari said Iran would co-operate with the French major in various oil and gas projects despite US sanctions against companies investing in this country's petroleum sector. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on April 23 mentioned Total as being among firms to be targetted for fresh American sanctions.

Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mrs Clinton used strong language against Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions. She spoke of an effort by US legislators to impose tougher sanctions on companies, including Lloyds of London, Total and BP, unless they ended their involvement in the export of fuels to Tehran or construction of refineries within Iran.

Philippe Rochoux, Total's managing director for the Middle East and head of its Iran operations, on April 21 said his company had operated several projects in Iran in the past years. Over 853 domestic and 450 foreign companies from 50 countries were taking part in the Tehran exhibition, held in an area of 23,000 sq metres. Some five US companies were present at the exhibition along with firms from Britain, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, France, Spain, Canada, South Korea, Norway, India, Romania and Hungary. The number of participants in this year's Oil Expo was up 25% on the 13th exhibition held in 2008.

The US Energy Department's statistical arm, the EIA, on April 21 said Iran's oil export revenues in the first quarter of calendar 2009 stood at nearly $9 bn. That was less than half the amount Iran had earned in the first quarter of 2008.

Nozari on April 19 said implementation of Phases 9&10 of the offshore South Pars gas and oil projects by Iranian companies and experts had indicated failure of the US and UNSC sanctions imposed on Tehran. Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to honour the petroleum industry's experts, Nozari said the successful implementation of the two phases of South Pars gas development in southern Iran was a unique model for carrying out further projects in Iran's petroleum industry. Referring to an agreement between Iran and Sharjah-based Crescent Petroleum for exporting natural gas from Iran's offshore Salman field to the UAE, Nozari said: "No gas will be exported to the UAE" unless the issues related to pricing and serving Iran's national interests were completely solved.

Nozari follows President Ahmadi-Nejad's orders to the letter. According to a highly-placed APS source in Tehran, Nozari never questions the president's policies or directives concerning the petroleum sector. So through Ahmadi-Nejad and Nozari, the IRGC now is in effective control over most of sectors of petroleum and petrochemicals. This is done indirectly through IRGC companies and affiliates. The IRGC, known as Pasdaran, owns a huge conglomerate called Pasdaran Construction Jihad (PCJ), whose engineering and construction arm - Khatam ol-Anbiya (Ghorb) - has become one of the biggest contractors in Iran. Ghorb now has billions of dollars worth of projects in the petroleum sector and in various other parts of the country's economy. The IRGC controls Iran's WMD and missile programme, much of which is directly run by the PCJ.

Likewise, Nozari promptly executes the president's orders in negotiating partnership deals with the national oil companies (NOCs) of allied states, such as Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), PetroEcuador, Gazprom and Rosneft of Russia, etc. Thus signalling closer ties with Russia, Nozari was on March 2, 2009, quoted as saying he and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shmatko discussed setting up a joint oil firm to operate outside their countries. Shmatko then was in Tehran and said such a company could be active in Latin America. Nozari said: "We concur with the Russian energy minister in connection to the establishment of a joint oil company and its activity in a third country, for example Latin America. Iran is ready to enter negotiations with Russia towards implementation of oil E&P and development". Shmatko suggested that Iran sell part of its crude oil through the St. Petersburg commodity exchange. The two discussed a joint gas project, stating they were ready to carry out the project both bilaterally and involving third countries.

On Dec. 6, 2008, Iran and Ecuador signed 12 MoUs during a visit to Tehran by the Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in the fields of petroleum, electric power, industry, banking, health and commerce. Nozari signed the petroleum MoU with Ecuador's Minister of Mines & Petroleum Galo Chiriboga Zambarno. Ahmadi-Nejad then said he and Correa, together with other Latin American states as well as Russia and Asian nations would triumph over the "arrogance of the US" by co-operating.

Nozari said: "Training the Ecuadorian petroleum industry staff, and repairing and renovation of [Ecuador's] refineries are among the main points of the MoU". He added: "Despite the sanctions imposed on Iran, the country's crude oil production [capacity] is 4.3m b/d and its natural gas production stands at over 500 MCM/day... Iran's oil industry enjoys 100 years of scientific and experimental activities and currently the Iranian projects are being carried out by Iranian experts and specialists". He voiced Iran's readiness to exchange its "aluable oil and gas experiences"with Ecuador so that the existing problems facing that Latin American country would be solved soon. He expressed hope that the MoU would open a new chapter in the two countries' co-peration. Nozari said the two countries' leaders were determined to further boost all-out ties. Zambarno stressed that Iran and Ecuador, another resource nationalist, were to set up a joint petroleum company. Nozari said Iran was to build a refinery in Ecuador as well.