Multiple Foreign Cos Aiding Iran's Energy Sector

More than a dozen foreign companies were engaged in the development of Iran's oil and natural-gas sectors during a 15-month period that ended in May 2011, according to an investigative group for the U.S. Congress.

In a report released this week, the Government Accountability Office said 16 non-U.S. companies--hailing from China, India, Venezuela and other countries-- had been conducting commercial activity in the development of Iran's energy sector.

The GAO said it didn't try to determine whether the activities violated U.S. sanctions against Iran.

U.S. law has restricted U.S. and foreign companies from investing in Iran's energy sector, which provides a big source of revenue for the Iranian government. The sanctions are aimed at blocking the transfer of weapons and technology to Iran's prohibited nuclear and missile programs, and targeting sectors of the Iranian economy relevant to its proliferation activities, the GAO report said.

Of the 16 companies that were identified as having commercial activities in Iran's energy sector, two of them have contracts with the U.S. government, totaling about $4 million, the report said.

The GAO found that a number of foreign companies have recently stopped, or are in the process of stopping, their commercial activity. In the months since the GAO last reported on the activity of these foreign companies, in March 2010, 20 of the 41 companies identified then as having business in Iran "have withdrawn or are withdrawing from commercial activity in Iran's energy sector," the report said.

Those companies said they made the decision to stop their commercial activity because of sanctions imposed by the U.S. government or because of the difficulty of doing business with Iran.

The GAO is also working on a report that will look at companies that sell refined petroleum products to Iran.

Source: DOW JONES