Tom Lantos: “if I may continue our colloquy, I would like to raise issues concerning recent developments of direct relevance to our…”

“if I may continue our colloquy, I would like to raise issues concerning recent developments of direct relevance to our discussion of ILSA. I am referring to major oil investment deals that both the Italian national oil company, ENI, and Japan's national oil company have recently announced. As we know, the Italian company recently agreed to invest $550 million in an Iranian oil field in a deal that will ultimately be worth well over $1 billion. This deal is the first time that a foreign concern has been allowed to invest in an onshore Iranian oil field. It is also uniquely structured as a buy-back deal that could, if realized, serve as a model for future oil developments in Iraq. It is now apparent, Mr. Speaker, that a number of foreign oil companies have been watching the Italian national oil company's growing investment in Iran, now totalling over $2.5 billion, to determine whether it will elicit a U.S. response under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. In addition, Mr. Speaker, Japan made a commitment last week through its oil company to invest in a gas field in Iran, indicating that foreign companies and their governments are increasingly confident that the United States will not impose the sanctions that Congress mandates, should these companies invest in Iraq. In fact, the Japanese trade minister himself defiantly stated when signing the deal in Tehran that Japan is not affected by U.S. pressure.”