Iran Claims Oral Agreement Reached With Taliban On Water Dispute
An Iranian official has claimed that Tehran reached an oral agreement with the Taliban concerning its water share of the Hirmand River, denied for several months.
An Iranian official has claimed that Tehran reached an oral agreement with the Taliban concerning its water share of the Hirmand River, denied for several months.
The river, known as Helmand in Afghanistan, plays a crucial role in sustaining both Afghanistan and Iran, serving as a vital source for agriculture and drinking water. Despite its significance, the river has been a persistent .
Ali Mohammad Tahmasbi, an advisor to the Iranian Environmental Protection Organization, stated that Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Afghan First Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, assured that as soon as conditions permit, steps would be taken to address the Helmand River issue.
Baradar led an Afghan delegation that visited Tehran last week, engaging in discussions with officials of the Islamic Republic, including Ali Salajegheh, the head of the Iranian Environmental Protection Organization.
According to reports from the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), Tahmasbi emphasized the expectation for the Taliban "not to neglect the release of the Helmand River water share based on principles of good neighborliness and strengthening regional relations."
Iran has accused Afghanistan of obstructing the river's water flow through the construction of dams, an allegation vehemently denied by Afghan authorities. Iranian government officials and environmentalists argue that dam construction on the river exacerbates issues in Iran's eastern regions, particularly in the water-scarce Sistan-Baluchestan province.
The matter of Iran obtaining its rightful share of the water has been a long-standing dispute between Iran and the Afghanistan. However, the disagreements have intensified with the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, leading to recent disputes between the authorities of the two neighboring nations.
He emphasized that without re-injecting gas into oil deposits, some fields might become unproductive, leading to substantial economic losses for the country's oil sector.
Reports from Iran's Ministry of Oil and the US Energy Information Administration indicate that 80 percent of Iran's oil production comes from aging fields facing pressure drops, resulting in an annual production decline of 8 to 10 percent.
To prevent a rapid decline in oil production, Iran needs to re-inject nearly 300 million cubic meters of gas per day (mcm/d) into its old oil deposits. However, the latest available official data reveals that the actual daily gas re-injection in 2018 was less than 37 million cubic meters. The situation must have deteriorated even further in the past five years, as gas production rapidly declines.
Additionally, the semi-official Fars news agency reported in June 2023 that only 10% of the required gas is being re-injected into the aging fields currently, reflecting a significant decline in gas re-injection to under 30 mcm/d. This gas deficit poses a severe threat to Iran's oil production and requires urgent attention to avoid economic repercussions.
According to estimates from the Parliament's Research Center and the Ministry of Oil, Iran has injected an average of 70 mcm/d into its oil fields during the last three decades. However, this re-injection rate has sharply declined since 2015.
Iran’s gas production is declining because of decades of inadequate investments and lack of Western technology to increase extraction in Iran's main under water gas fields in the Persian Gulf. Years of various sanctions and mismanagement have prevented the necessary upgrades of gas platforms.
This reduction is concerning, given the growing need for gas re-injection to maintain oil production levels, which should reach around 300 mcm/d due to more fields entering the second half of their lifespan since 2005.
This reduction is concerning, given the growing need for gas re-injection to maintain oil production levels, which should reach around 300 mcm/d due to more fields entering the second half of their lifespan since 2005.
Currently, the average daily gas injection into these fields is below 30 million cubic meters. Inadequate gas injection not only leads to a decline in oil production but also leaves a substantial portion of oil reserves permanently unrecoverable within the soil.
For instance, Iran's oil fields with 650 billion barrels of oil reserves, typically have a recovery rate of about 20%, meaning only 20% of the oil can be extracted under normal conditions. Over the past two decades, gas re-injection of 70 mcm/d and 250,000 barrels of brackish water has increased Iran's oil field recovery rate from 20% to 24%, meaning Iran’s recoverable oil reserves stands at 156 billion barrels.
With sufficient gas re-injection, this rate could reach 27-28%, potentially adding around 20 billion barrels to Iran's extractable oil reserves. Considering the current market values, this additional oil would be worth over $1.5 trillion.
Iran has only tried to compensate for declining oil production by drilling more wells and developing new oil fields over the past two decades.
However, following last winter's gas deficit of 250 mcm/d, 50 mcm/d more than in 2020, this winter is anticipated to experience a gas deficit of around 300 mcm/d.
Iran, with 33 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves, ranks second globally after Russia. Its annual gas production is approximately 260 billion cubic meters, with 18 billion cubic meters exported to Turkey and Iraq. Due to gas shortage and continuance of its gas exports, Iran's domestic oil product consumption experienced close to 10% growth last year.
Dr Umud Shokri, Energy Strategist and Senior Visiting Fellow at George Mason University
Dalga Khatinoglu, Azerbaijani expert on Iran’s energy issues
"There is no other way but to resist Israel, we kiss the hands of Hamas for its resistance against Israel," Raisi said in his address to a joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh. He also called on Islamic countries to impose oil and goods sanctions on Israel.
The summit called on Saturday for an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza, declaring that Israel is responsible for "crimes" against Palestinians.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, gathered Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh as the kingdom has sought to exert its influence to press the United States and Israel for an end to fighting in Gaza.
The Iranian regime praised Hamas as soon as news about the October 7 attack emerged and immediately organized street celebration. However, it has refrained from direct involvement in the fighting. However, its Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni proxy forces have launched more than 40 rocket and drone attacks against American forces in the region, not deterred by a large deployment of US naval forces in the region.
Dozens of leaders including Iran’s Raisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was welcomed back into the Arab League earlier this year, attended the meeting.
Prince Mohammed said the kingdom affirms its "condemnation and categorical rejection of this barbaric war against our brothers in Palestine".
"We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe that proves the failure of the Security Council and the international community to put an end to the flagrant Israeli violations of international laws," he said in an address to the summit.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians are facing a "genocidal war" and called on the United States to end Israeli "aggression".
As he headed to Riyadh, Raisi said it was time for action over the conflict rather than talk.
The Middle East has been on edge since Hamas fighters rampaged into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Since then, Israel has escalated its assault on Gaza, where 11,078 people had been killed as of Friday, 40% of them children, according to Hamas officials. It is not possible to independently verify these numbers.
ARAB COUNTRIES DIVIDED
Fighting intensified overnight into Saturday near Gaza City's overcrowded hospitals, Palestinian officials said.
The war has upended traditional Middle East alliances as Riyadh has engaged more closely with Iran, pushed back against US pressure to condemn Hamas and put on hold its plans to normalize ties with Israel.
Raisi's trip to Saudi Arabia is the first by an Iranian head of state since Tehran and Riyadh ended years of hostility under a Chinese-brokered deal in March.
Erdogan called for an international peace conference to find a permanent solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
"What we need in Gaza is not pauses for a couple of hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire," Erdogan told the summit.
The kingdom had been scheduled to host two extraordinary summits, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League, on Saturday and Sunday. The joint summit will replace the two gatherings in light of the "extraordinary" Gaza situation, the Saudi Foreign ministry said.
Hamas called on the summit to take "a historic and decisive decision and move to stop the Zionist aggression immediately".
"We call on Arab and Muslim leaders ... to put pressure on the American administration, which bears direct responsibility in the genocidal war that our people are facing in the Gaza Strip," a statement from the Palestinian militant group said.
Arab foreign ministers were divided as some countries, led by Algeria, called for a complete cut in diplomatic ties with Israel, two delegates told Reuters.
Other Arab countries, which have established diplomatic relations with Israel, pushed back, stressing the need to keep channels open with Netanyahu's government, they said.
With reporting by Reuters