Iran and Uganda signed a memorandum of understanding on the future of oil in western Uganda.

UgandaÕs beautiful western Rift Valley belt with its rolling hills and parks filled with rare birds and wild game is also the arena of its economyÕs most existential challenge to date.
Oil companies say the country has over 2 billion barrels and more is expected, Monitor.co.ug wrote.
Exploration in what is known as the Albertine Graben, turned out to be a gift horse to the country, which in the past decade has been an example of the extent to which donor charity and its prescriptions of spending controls can do to push an economy beyond recovery.
The prospect of large infusions of petrodollars even with a depressed global market is palpable in the corridors of power. The proverbial gift horse is being looked at closely.

Iran Deal
This month President Yoweri Museveni accompanied by a delegation, which included the head of the national oil program, Ernest Rubondo, signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Iran for implementing an oil project in western Uganda.
The agreement represents the crossroads the country has arrived at, pushed along in the past three years by the rapidity of announcements by London-listed exploration companies Tullow and Heritage Oil.
Simply put, UgandaÕs plan is to begin refining oil as soon as possible.
The companies, especially Tullow, delayed a smaller refinery [top up plant] that was meant to be operational this year by arguing that with so much oil it was better to tailor-make one.
By searching the market for sovereign wealth funds from countries like Iran, Libya and China, Museveni is sending the message that the exploitation phase of the national program will not wait.
Government officials in interviews have indicated that oil exploration companies are unlikely under the present global economic conditions to raise the money required to leapfrog Uganda into an oil producer.
The companies appear to be adjusting to that reality. In its May 12 Annual General Meeting, shareholders of Tullow Oil [which closed down a drilling well last week--the first snag in its string of successful drilling] were told the door was open to bigger players interested in the companyÕs concessions in Uganda.

Partnerships
Tullow Chief Aidan Heavey spoke of partnerships with larger oil companies once the Òexploration phase is overÓ.
ÒThere may be too many interested parties for any one company to make an offer to buy Tullow outright [but] many bigger players are interested in co-venturesÓ he said, referring to Chinese companies and others.
Heavey reportedly spoke of finding a partner to fund the development of oil evacuation infrastructure like pipelines but he, like his partner Heritage Oil and Gas, is still speaking of crude oil exports.
Recent reports say since Uganda drew the line on the refinery, its relationship with the oil exploration companies has soured.
TullowÕs announcement that it will accept buyers capable of taking the next step may accommodate some of the national ambition but this may only happen if its proposals fit the shape of the oil sector that is beginning to emerge.
The company according to financial news reports will seek and find a buyer for a stake in its Lake Albert oilfields first. Among the interested parties named are ChinaÕs state-supported oil giants China National Petroleum Corp. and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp [Sinopec].
The question overall is whether pressure from companies interested in acquiring TullowÕs Ugandan assets as well as the governmentÕs own initiatives to find money for a refinery will cause the company and its partner to cash in now and hand the baton over.
In Angola where a large Chinese check restarted the national oil program--crude is destined almost entirely to China which consequently carries a lot of influence in the country.
In the Great Lakes Region where many interests are alive, Chinese money brings with it Chinese competitors like western governments. Indeed, sovereign wealth funds from Iran and Libya carry similar risks and opportunities.
However, China may also be the most politically risky and invite a backlash from western governments which have long argued it does not factor in local governance and democracy, and have isolated regimes like Sudan over its rights record and caused significant instability there.
In the short run, therefore, UgandaÕs oil will likely remain unexploited, especially if the government excludes the export of crude as an option.

ArakÕs Wagon Pars Company signed an agreement to produce 200 passenger wagons as well as rail equipment for VietnamÕs Railway Company on Saturday in Arak.
The deal was signed by deputy head of VietnamÕs Railway Company, Nguyen Minh Dao, and Managing Director of Wagon Pars Company Gholamreza Razzazi.
According to Moj News Agency, Razzazi said details of the agreement, based on which some sections of wagon production will be carried out in the country, would be finalized in the next two months.
He noted that the project is one of the companyÕs biggest industrial projects abroad.
Based on the agreement, VietnamÕs wagon-building site will be completed in two years.
Putting the value of the agreement at 80 million euros, he added that technology transfer, training and using the joint emblem of the two companies on their products are among other clauses of the deal.

Iran and Turkey have signed an agreement on telecommunications cooperation in the second meeting of the joint commission on telecommunications held in Ankara.
IranÕs Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Soleimani and TurkeyÕs Minister of Transportation and Communications Binali Yildirim signed the agreement.
Soleimani, heading a top delegation, arrived in Ankara on Wednesday to pay a two-day official visit to the country to attend the 2nd Iran-Turkey Telecommunications Commission.
A member of the Iranian delegation told IRNA that Tehran and Ankara are determined to improve cooperation in the international arenas, particularly in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Ahmad Pour-Rahimnia said Turkey, according to the agreement, would be connected to IranÕs telecommunications network, as well as IranÕs neighbors, especially the Persian Gulf littoral states.
ÒIran will instead use the Turkish telecommunications network to connect to the western states as well as Turkey itself,Ó he said.
Soleimani has already met with TurkeyÕs Minister of Industry and Trade Zafar Caglayan.

Pakistan and Iran have signed an agreement to activate a bilateral gas pipeline project, without IndiaÕs participation, after 14 years of negotiations over what was initially framed as the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project.
Sources in PakistanÕs Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told Daily Times on Saturday that Pakistan Interstate Gas Company (PIGC) and the Iranian National Oil Company (INOC) signed the agreement late Friday in Turkey, Daily Times reported.
The official said the agreement would be governed through a third country law, for which reason it was signed in Turkey.
Under the gas sale purchase agreement, Iran would provide 750 million cubic feet of gas per day to Pakistan for the next 25 years, which would generate 4,000 MW of electricity. Officials in Islamabad termed the deal a major breakthrough and an achievement that would greatly help Pakistan meet its energy needs.
The project, when initially mooted in 1994, was intended to carry gas from Iran to Pakistan and on to India. New Delhi withdrew from the talks last year over repeated disputes on prices, transit fees and security issues.
The pipeline project would be completed by 2013, the sources maintained.
ÒThe gas pipeline would begin from Gwadar near Iranian border and will be 800 km long. The determination of gas price would be linked with oil prices in the international market but will be less than 25 percent as compared to crude oil prices,Ó the sources said.
Officials of the ministry termed the agreement as a landmark achievement and expressed hope it would help Pakistan meet the shortfall both for commercial and domestic purposes.

President Ahmadinejad says GDP growth stands at 6.25 percent per annum compared with 5.61 percent in the preceding administration.

The incumbent president and contender for a second term, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said inflation has slowed during his four-year term.
Speaking at a debate with the presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi broadcast live on Saturday night on IRIB TV3, Ahmadinejad made use of color charts and bars to paint a picture of economy as having made a huge leap forward under his administration.
ÒIranian gross domestic product (GDP) growth currently stands at 6.25 percent per annum compared with 5.61 percent in the preceding administration. Such an achievement has been realized in spite of sanctions against Iran and the global financial meltdown,Ó Ahmadinejad remarked.
He pointed out that his data was genuine and compiled by the Tehran-based Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) and the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), reflecting the past 27 years--from 1981 to 2008.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ahmadinejad said the countryÕs unemployment rate had fallen since March 21, 2005 whilst it is peaking worldwide.
Turning to the soaring jobless rate in the United States, Canada, France and Britain over the past two years, he said that job vacancies have in contrast increased in Iran during this period. He went on to note that Iran witnessed its largest per capita income gap between 1981 and 1984 and its lowest ever under the present government.
ÒPublic employee salaries of those at the lowest social strata rose under the administration presently in office. Public pensions have in addition jumped by nearly 256 percent,Ó Ahmadinejad commented.
According to him, the country has an inflation rate of 16.55 percent which is lower than the levels of 17.3 percent, 17.58 percent and 18.9 percent in the preceding administrations.
Karroubi, for his part, dismissed the figures presented by Ahmadinejad, claiming, ÒI have been working in the parliament for 16 years. All the figures that you have given are contradictory to the ones we have seen over the years.Ó
However, a specialist in poverty, development and economy claimed that between 29 and 33 percent of Iranians live under the absolute poverty line.
Hossein Raghfar noted that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Òpresented his own unrealistic figures on oil revenues, which pegged IranÕs income as $211 billion in the year ending March 20, 2009, whereas careful analysis of the income will show a total of $265 billion,Ó reported IranÕs Labor News Agency on Friday.
In analyzing the government calculations he claimed that the sales of natural gas and related material were not included in the total income figure.
Coming to the question of poverty, Raghfar said, ÒBetween 29 and 32 percent of Iranians live below the poverty line and the reasons for this range are accounting factors. A small shift in the poverty line could put a large number of people below it, as there is a large concentration (of people) around this line.Ó
ÒAccording to the last published figures for the poverty line for Tehran in the year ending March 20, 2008, it was $9,612 per year as announced by the Central Bank and the national average was $4,932,Ó said the economist.
He said that the initiatives undertaken by the government show that it is impossible for the government to distribute oil revenue through its program of Ôjustice bondsÕ or even direct subsidies.
In summation, according to the latest report by the Research and Markets (Researchandmarkets.com), this year will be a tough one for Iran.
Economic growth will slow, mirroring the slowdown in all the major economies of the world, with real GDP growth in 2009-10 falling to just 2.4 percent, down from 4.7 percent in 2008-9. However, growth will begin to pick up again, in line with a slow recovery in the global economy, and over the course of the forecast period (2009-10 to 2013-14) the report expects growth to 3.6 percent.
The report suggests that the key issue remains, as always, oil. Iran is the worldÕs second-largest oil producer and its economy is quite dependent on petrodollars. Movements in the price of oil impact the economy profoundly.

Iran has allocated $50 million for a massive construction project in Iraq.
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Mohammad Saeedikia said ties will expand with Iraq in the housing sector, ISNA wrote.
At the end of his visit to Iraq, he announced BaghdadÕs interest in IranÕs cooperation to renovate the war-torn country.
ÒGiven the large-scale destruction and ruination in Iraq and its urgent need for renovation, the country has called for IranÕs cooperation, especially in the housing sector,Ó he said.
ÒIran allocated a $50-million credit line to the Iranian companies to start housing construction projects in Iraq.Ó
Saeedikia said lands in Karbala, Najaf and Kurdistan have been designated for Iranian companies to build residential units.
Currently, 10 Iranian firms are active in various fields, including housing, road building, training, construction materials and construction machineries in Iraq.

Iran moved forward with proposals to purchase the entire gas volume from the Azeri offshore Shah Deniz field, the Azeri energy minister said.
The Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea is one of the largest finds in recent decades, with roughly 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, UPI reported.
There are seven companies, including BP and the French Total, in developmental contracts at Shah Deniz.
While recognizing the Azeri option for diverse partnerships, Azeri Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said Iran has come forward with an option to purchase the entire gas volume from Shah Deniz.
ÒThere are a lot of proposals on the purchase of gas from the Shah Deniz deposit. For example, Iran has now proposed purchasing the entire gas amount from this deposit,Ó he said. ÒHowever, Azerbaijan, being in favor of diversification, will not consider just one option.Ó
Reza Hosseini, planning director at the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), told the Trend news agency that Azeri gas could reach vital export markets with Iranian help.
ÒWe can create conditions to export the Azerbaijani gas to Turkey via Iran,Ó he said.
His comments come on the heels of a proposal by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom to make a similar offer. Aliyev said the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic was in talks with the energy giant on gas purchases.
ÒHowever, this is a lengthy process as it involves long-term rather than short-lived cooperation,Ó he said. ÒThat is why negotiations with Gazprom will continue.Ó

Kazakhstan and Ardebil province signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost economic ties.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of Kazakh presidential advisorÕs visit to Ardebil province, Moj News Agency reported.
Safar Ali Babit, heading a high-ranking economic delegation, visited economic centers of the Iranian province during his three-day visit.
He invited Iranian investors and experts to establish industrial centers, greenhouses, cold and hot storages and animal husbandry farms in Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh delegation also announced the readiness to import food, especially halal food production technology, from Ardebil province.
The delegation also invited Iranian investors to participate in KazakhstanÕs oil and petrochem sectors, especially in production and processing fields.
Referring to the supply of 90 percent of KazakhstanÕs pharmaceutical demands via imports and IranÕs capabilities in pharmaceutical production, technology and services, the delegation announced its readiness for importing medicines from Iran.
Based on the MoU signed between the two sides, IranÕs Ardebil province will import textile, construction materials and clothing to Kazakhstan. The two sides also agreed to boost ties in tourism, sports and health sectors.