The nervousness over a potential resumption of hardline policies by the US towards Iran was illustrated by comments to investment analysts made by Total’s chief on Thursday.
The French oil major is one of the few western companies to sign initial deals with Iran to help it rehabilitate its oil and gas industry after years of sanctions. It signed a preliminary deal in November to develop phase 11 of the giant South Pars gasfields off Iran's south-west coast.
Asked about risks to the companies’ big investment prospects, which includes the Iran deal, Patrick Pouyanné, Total’s chief executive, said: “The main risk of course is South Pars in Iran,” according to a transcript of the call with analysts.
“The US president and the US secretary of state will have to sign some waivers, renew the waivers, by April and May in order to stay within the scope of the treaty with Iran,” he said, referring to the 2015 treaty that led to a lifting of Iranian oil sanctions last year in exchange for a roll back of its nuclear weapons programme.
“Our own timetable is to finalise the contracts and take the [final investment decision] by the middle of the year,” Mr Pouyanné said. “We want to sanction the project [but] if the US decides not to stick on the treaty then we’ll have to obey the international laws, that’s clear to me.”
His comments underline the lack of clarity so far about the course the new US administration will take.
Mr Trump, when he was still a candidate for his party’s nomination, last spring told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobbying group, that his “number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran”.
Though his subsequent comments and those of some of his senior cabinet members have shifted back and forth, Mr Trump earlier this month slapped new sanctions on Iran, citing a missile test in January and support for rebels in Yemen.
Iran launched another missile test within days of the new sanctions in defiance of the move.
Most of the oil majors – including BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil [whose former chief executive, Rex Tillerson, is the new secretary of state] – have stayed away from Iran. Total was joined by Royal Dutch Shell, which signed a preliminary deal in December to study work on the Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields in the south-west, and the offshore Kish gasfield. Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief, did not comment on Iran when he reported on the company’s outlook last week.
Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil services company, which is technically based in the Netherlands Antilles but headquartered in Houston, also has signed a preliminary deal with Iran but not commented on renewed tensions.
amcauley@thenational.ae
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Jawan
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
