UANI

"The State Department placed Naftiran, a subsidiary of Iran's national oil company, on a financial blacklist, barring it from doing business with or in the United States or with US institutions...The US accusses Iran of using revenue from...Naftiran to fund its suspect nuclear program and to hide purchases of dual-use equipment and technology" (AP, "US hits Iranian energy firm with sanctions," 9/30/2010). 

 --

Naftiran is an Iranian government-funded energy company based in Switzerland that has recently undertaken a number of lucrative joint ventures with European oil companies. Naftiran posted revenues of $21.9 billion in 2008, and buys the vast majority of Iran's petroleum imports. It is becoming increasingly clear that Naftiran plays a vital role in Iran's global economic strategy, and U.S. officials believe that Naftiran's investment decisions are at least partly made by the Iranian parliament (Time, "Sleeping with the enemy," 6/16/2010).

 --

Most concerning are Naftiran's joint ventures with British Petroleum. In the North Sea, BP and Naftiran subsidiary Iranian Oil Company are 50-50 joint partners in the Rhum gas field project, which generates 1% of the UK's daily consumption, or $1 million of natural gas per day. The total value of the Iranian Oil Company's projects in the North Sea is $794 million (Time, "Sleeping with the enemy," 6/16/2010).

 --

Naftiran has also partnered with BP in the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan, a project that now produces 8 billion cubic meteres of natural gas per year - one of the largest gas fields in the world. BP owns 25.5% of this venture, while Naftiran owns 10%. ConocoPhillips-owned Lukoil also holds 10%. The second phase of Shah Deniz is expected to produce $16 billion, and Naftiran plans to invest $1.7 billion (Time, "Sleeping with the enemy," 6/16/2010).

 --

Naftiran is a major BP shareholder, with over $775 million in shares. The company also retains complete ownership of the Hood gas field in the North Sea, and maintains joint projects with Shell in Senegal (Company Website).