TEHRAN, April 16 (UPI) -- Iranian energy officials discounted claims that Crescent Petroleum in the United Arab Emirates offered Tehran an improved price for gas imports.
Seifollah Jashnsaz, director of the National Iranian Oil Co., said he was not involved in any talks with Crescent on the price for imports, the Iranian Press TV reports.
"We have received no letter from Crescent which says it has agreed to raise the price for gas imports," Jashnsaz said. "They have not yet offered to hold talks with us on the issue."
Crescent director Majid Hamid Jafar announced Tuesday his company had agreed to a higher import price for Iranian gas following lengthy negotiations. Jashnsaz, for his part, said there were other terms complicating the talks, including points of delivery.
In 2001, Crescent and NIOC signed a deal to transport natural gas from the Salman field to Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf along a 90-mile pipeline.
Iran at the time had called for an increased price as global energy prices soared in the prelude to the global recession.
Under the terms of the agreement, Iran was set for initial exports of 195 million cubic feet to the United Arab Emirates, with provisions to raise that level to 350 million cubic feet under a 25-year contract.
