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TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran's oil minister confirmed on Saturday that the French energy giant Total SA (12027.FR) was out of a multi-billion dollar gas investment in the Islamic republic, the state broadcaster reported.
"Total's recent move in withdrawal from phase 11 of the South Pars is a completely political move and not a commercial one," Nozari said.
The French firm's chief Christophe de Margerie said in an interview published Thursday that it was too politically risky to invest in Iran at present.
Western governments have pressured firms to cut their ties with Iran over the country's controversial nuclear program that world powers fear could be aimed at seeking atomic weapons.
If a giant like Total fina is pulling out of Iran, they must be under great political pressure to do so - gas will keep going up!
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blacktuna
Jul 13 at 5:19 ET
TOT
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KanGuru
Jul 13 at 6:30 ET
Great... so oil will go up and the rest of the market will continue to go down the drain. Is this just a passing storm, or are we headed for a long depression?
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blacktuna
Jul 13 at 11:23 ET
I guess it depends if you are an optemist or not.. every day I open the TV and see another show about green energy and CO2 immissions killing the planet. A lot is being done and quickly..
Let's not forget that the democrats are going to take the white house in November - another factor that will push alternative energy up. I would make sure i have some in my portfolio.. for the other part, I recommend being optemistic as a way of life :)
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arawak
Jul 16 at 12:51 ET
Modern civilization was created largely thanks to oil. We discovered terawatts of energy beneath our feat and built bridges and planes and the like. Now, oil is running out. Uranium is limited. Solar is still a maybe. Wind is a finite resource.
We found a nice picnic in the woods and ate all of it. Now, hungry, we must go back to being lean. Probably not a bad thing.. medical/scientific advances aside, we're not any happier in the ultra-urban western world.
Long term it's probably good that oil runs out sooner than later. Civilization can suffer and adapt but if we alter our atmosphere in a deadly way.. game over.
Alternatively, we can all be like my mother and say "they'll think of something."
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guliamo
Jul 19 at 11:39 ET
The best thing to do is hope for continued high oil prices and aggressive legislation encouraging environmentally friendly energy. Only the entrepreneurs looking for profit will manage to set such a huge shift in motion.