National Iranian Oil Company's Managing Director Seifollah Jashnsaz on Monday stated the Iran-Crescent deal will be enforceable only if it serves Iran's national interests.
He made the remarks in response to the Crescent''s recent decision on seeking international arbitration for what it said to be the failure of Iran's state oil firm to fulfill the gas export contract, SHANA reported on Monday.
"The two sides should first come to terms on providing valid guarantees and consenting on new delivery points," Jashnsaz said, adding Iran has always been ready to resolve differences through negotiation.
The UAE-based Crescent National Gas Corp. signed a deal with the National Iranian Oil Company in 2001 to import natural gas from Iran's Salman field through a pipeline jointly built by Iran and Crescent.
Based on the signed MoU, Iran was supposed to export 600 million cubic feet of gas daily to the UAE for 25 years starting in 2005.
As oil rallied in following years, some officials and politicians in Iran called for a revision to the price formula. They have blamed the price dispute for the delay.
Crescent says the two sides provisionally agreed on a revised price in September last year, but that it has heard nothing from NIOC on the price since.