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Radiofarda – French gas and power group Engie, Polish gas firm PGNiG and German lender DZ Bank were the latest companies on Friday to say that their business dealings with Iran would be affected by the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions.
Following is a list of companies that could be affected by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from an international nuclear deal with Iran and impose sanctions on Tehran:
OIL AND GAS
* French gas and power group Engie said on May 18 it would end its engineering contracts in Iran by November.
* Poland’s dominant gas firm PGNiG has suspended a gas project in Iran because of the risk from U.S. sanctions, its deputy chief executive said on May 18.
* French oil major Total said on May 16 it would pull out of the South Pars project and unwind all related operations by Nov. 4 “unless Total is granted a specific project waiver by U.S. authorities with the support of the French and European authorities.”
The company had signed the South Pars deal in November 2016, becoming the first oil major to agree a big transaction with Tehran in the wake of the 2015 international nuclear agreement. Industry sources said in October 2017 that China’s top oil and gas company CNPC would consider taking over Total’s stake in the project if the French company left.
* Norwegian oil and gas company DNO said in November 2016 it was the second Western energy company after Total to sign a deal with Iran under which it agreed to study the development of the Changuleh oilfield in western Iran.
* Shell signed a provisional deal in December 2016 to develop Iranian oil and gas fields South Azadegan, Yadavaran and Kish. But its annual report published in 2017 showed it had bought only three cargoes of Iranian oil since the easing of sanctions, in a sign of the legal difficulties hampering trade.
* South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering and Construction (Daewoo E&C) signed a MoU in 2015 to carry out construction of an oil refinery in Bandar Jask on the southern coast of Iran.
* Norway’s Aker Solutions signed a MoU in May 2016 to modernise the Iranian oil industry.
* Austria’s OMV signed a MoU in May 2016 for projects in the Zagros area of western Iran and the Fars field in the south. In June 2017, OMV and Russia’s Gazprom Neft announced a MoU to work in Iran’s oil sector.
* Italy’s Saipem signed MoUs in 2016 to cooperate on Iranian pipeline projects, upgrading of refineries and development of the Tous gas field in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi.
* BASF’s Wintershall oil and gas exploration arm signed a MoU with the National Iranian Oil Company in April 2016. In February 2017, it said it was in talks about a possible investment in Iran, but no decision was on the cards because of uncertainty over the status of economic sanctions.
* In January 2017, Iran named 29 companies from more than a dozen countries as being allowed to bid for oil and gas projects using a new, less restrictive contract model. The firms included Shell, Total, Italy’s Eni, Malaysia’s Petronas and Russia’s Gazprom and Lukoil, as well as companies from China, Austria, Japan and elsewhere.
* Italy’s Eni signed an agreement with Iran in June 2017 for feasibility studies to develop an oil field and a gas field.
* India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd in late February signed an initial non-binding agreement with an Iranian company to develop the Susangerd oilfield in the south of Iran, a company source said.
* The National Iranian Oil Company signed a deal in March with Russia’s Zarubezhneft to develop two oilfields in Iran fields, according to SHANA, the news site of the Iranian oil ministry.
SHIPPING
* A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s biggest container shipper, said on May 17 it planned to wind down its business in Iran following U.S. plans to impose sanctions.
RENEWABLES
* Norway’s Saga Energy signed a 2.5 billion euro ($3 billion) deal in October 2017 to build solar power plants in Iran.
AVIATION
* U.S. planemaker Boeing agreed in December 2016 to sell 80 aircraft, including 15 Boeing 777-300ER long-range jets, to IranAir. Last month, Boeing said it had found new homes for jets it hoped to deliver to Iran this year, adding it had no Iranian deliveries scheduled or part of production this year.
* European planemaker Airbus said in December 2016 it had sealed a deal to sell 100 jets to IranAir. Only three have so far been delivered.
* Iran completed a deal in April 2017 to buy 20 aircraft from European turboprop maker ATR, half-owned by Airbus and Leonardo.
* Germany’s Lufthansa said in April 2017 it was in talks with IranAir to provide catering, maintenance and pilot training.
* Iran’s Aseman Airlines agreed in April 2017 to buy 30 Boeing 737 MAX jets.
* Iran’s Zagros Airlines signed a MoU in June 2017 to buy 20 Airbus A320neo and eight A330neo aircraft.
* Iran Airtour signed a MoU in June 2017 for 45 Airbus A320neos.
RAILWAYS
* Germany’s Siemens signed a contract in October 2016 to upgrade Iran’s railway network. It was also to supply components for 50 diesel-electric locomotives to Iran.
* China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation, signed a 2.2 billion-euro deal in May 2017 with Iran’s MAPNA for electrification of a high-speed rail line between Tehran and Mashhad, according to Iran’s Financial Tribune newspaper.
* Iran’s state rail company and its Italian counterpart, Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) signed a final agreement worth 1.2 billion euros in July 2017 to build a high-speed railway between the Iranian cities of Qom and Arak.
* French train maker and manufacturing group Alstom signed a deal in July 2017 for a joint venture to build metro and suburban rail carriages in Iran.
AUTOMOTIVE
* French carmaker PSA had signed Iranian production deals worth 700 million euros ($768 million) by May 2017. PSA said in January it sold 444,600 vehicles in Iran last year.
* Germany’s Volkswagen said in July 2017 it would start exporting cars to Iran, returning to the market after more than 17 years. But the company said in October 2017 its Spanish arm Seat was no longer looking at the possibility of entering the Iranian car market.
* France’s Renault said in August 2017 it had signed a joint venture deal in Iran following an initial partnership agreement a year earlier. The new venture included an engineering and purchasing centre to support the development of local suppliers as well as a plant with an initial production capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year, supplementing Renault’s existing capacity of 200,000 vehicles a year in the country.
* Germany’s Mercedes-Benz Trucks signed a contract with Iran Khodro in September 2017, laying the foundation for resuming distribution of its trucks in Iran.
* Autoneum, a Swiss maker of sound and heat shields for automobiles, in December 2017 announced a licensing deal for Iranian vehicle supplier Ayegh Khodro Toos to produce carpets, inner dashes and floor insulators for carmakers Iran Khodro and PSA, with production due to start in 2019.
BANKING
* Germany’s No. 2 lender DZ Bank said on May 18 it will suspend financial transactions with Iran in July as risks to European businesses have grown in the wake of Trump’s pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.
* Oberbank signed a deal with Iran in September 2017, enabling it to finance new ventures there and making it one of the first European banks to do so since sanctions were eased.
But major global banks have shied away from handling Iran-related business. Among them is HSBC, which has said it has no intention of doing any new business involving Iran.
HEALTHCARE
Danish insulin supplier Novo Nordisk decided in September 2015 to invest 70 million euros in a factory in Iran, adding 160 staff to the 130 it maintained in the country throughout the sanctions.
Medicines were excepted from the sanctions but shipping drugs into the country was troublesome, due to tight curbs on financial transactions and restrictions on technology.
MINING
Finnish mining technology company Outotec expects order intake from Iran to slow due to Trump’s plans to impose sanctions on Tehran, the company’s finance chief said on May 17.
(Compiled by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Arathy S Nair; Editing by Jason Neely and Adrian Croft)
