Slider, I have been a stealth member on the site for awhile. I started loading up on OS stocks and the insight is great.
What do you make of this.
Dave
Last Updated 2:55 AM ET January 10
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Iran Asks Caspian Pipeline Consortium For New Bid
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) - Iran has asked a consortium of Chinese companies and a local firm that was tipped to win a $400 million deal to build a Caspian Sea oil pipeline to present a new bid, an Iranian oil official said Sunday.
The official said the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation and the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) and the Iranian firm MAPNA were given a deadline which closes at the end of next week to submit the bid on the pipeline to Iran's northern refineries.
"I don't think they will submit new bids. I think the Chinese will be out of it (the competition)," the official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
He said MAPNA was the lowest bidder and had been chosen to build the pipeline and then the two Chinese concerns expressed a strong interest in the project and formed a consortium with the local company.
Industry sources had expected the Chinese companies to win the contract, beating about 12 competitors including Italian, British, German, Russian, South Korean and Saudi companies.
Iran launched a tender earlier this year for the 390 km (240 mile), 370,000 barrels per day route from the Caspian port of Neka on a build-operate-transfer basis. The tender closed on September 6.
Technical bids were opened in November and financing bids in early December.
The Iranian oil official said the deal would be worth between $400 million and $500 million.
He said project officials would consult the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) management on what course of action to take if the Chinese firms failed to meet the deadline.
The work includes constructing three associated pumping stations and storage and blending facilities in Tehran and Tabriz.
Iran is hoping to become a major export route for Caspian oil and gas, an ambition opposed by the United States.
The pipeline is aimed at bringing crude from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan for use at Tehran and Tabriz refineries.
This would be in exchange for Iranian crude from the southern fields being delivered to Turkmen and Kazakh customers calling at Gulf terminals
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