February 18, 2004

Japan, Iran 'near oil deal'

Japan and Iran are nearing agreement on a major oil deal, Japan's government spokesman and media reports have said.

The pact would grant Japan full development rights to Iran's Azadegan oil field, which has been under negotiation for more than two years.

Japan, the world's second biggest oil importer, wants to diversify its energy supplies and alleviate concerns about its reliance on sources in the Gulf.

Agreement has been delayed by US concerns about Iran's nuclear plans.

Azadegan has 26bn barrels of estimated reserves, making it one of the world's largest potential oil developments.

Japan has been keen to reach agreement on developing Azedegan to meet its long term energy needs, and reduce its reliance on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which accounted for nearly two thirds of Japan's oil imports in 2001.

On top of everything else that's going on, this makes me nervous!
(Let's not forget that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was partly "retaliation" for an oil embargo we placed on Japan.)
Now that Japan has re-militarized, it's certainly a bad time for them to do business with a member of the Axis of Evil.
And why fight the jihadis in Iraq (as they're doing for their part in the Coalition) while getting in bed with their IslamoNazi brethren in Iran?
I hope that President Bush and President Koziumi still have their productive relationship, because this is not a good move.
There are plenty of other countries in the world, besides Iran (and SA and the UAE) that have vast oil reserves, like Canada, Mexico or even Vietnam!
The last thing the Iranian mullahs need now is another nation-state sugar daddy, aligning Japan to be to Iran what France and Russia were to Saddam's Iraq.