Iran says reaches understanding with Iraq to develop two oilfields

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran and Iraq have reached an understanding about developing two oilfields on their mutual border, Iran’s oil minister was quoted saying on Sunday, a day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for increased trade between the two countries. The focus of the understanding is the development of the Naft Shahr and Khorramshahr oilfields, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said according to a report on Iran’s oil ministry website on Sunday, without giving any details of the plan.

Rouhani called on Saturday for Iran and Iraq to expand their gas, electricity and oil dealings and boost bilateral trade to $20 billion, state TV reported, despite difficulties caused by U.S. sanctions against Tehran. “We hope that our plans to expand trade volume to $20 billion will be realized within the next few months or years,” Rouhani said, after a meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, in remarks carried by state television. Iranian media reports have put the current level of trade at about $12 billion.

Zanganeh had in February criticized Iraq for not agreeing to develop shared oilfields because of sanctions fears, according to comments published by the oil ministry’s news site SHANA. However the energy industries in the two countries have close links and Iraq relies heavily on Iranian gas to feed its power stations.

Iraq imports roughly 1.5 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day from Iran via pipelines in the south and east of the country. Zanganeh noted Iraq owes Iran approximately $1 billion for gas supplied in the past. “Given the lack of development in the petrochemicals and gas industries in Iraq, there is a bright perspective for cooperation between the two countries,” Zanganeh said, again without giving any further details. There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi oil ministry on Sunday about the oilfields understanding.

After a trip to Iraq last month by Rouhani and Zanganeh, Iran had agreed to help Iraq with technical and engineering services in the oil sector. Iran also agreed to help with the development of mutual fields, rebuilding old refineries, and helping build a network for gas delivery, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Iran’s deputy oil minister for trade and international affairs, said on Sunday, according to SHANA, the new site of the Iranian oil ministry.

U.S President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy exports in November, citing its nuclear program and meddling in the Middle East, but has granted waivers to several buyers to meet consumer energy needs. In March the United States granted Iraq a 90-day waiver exempting it from sanctions on buying energy from Iran.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-iraq-oilfields/iran-says-reaches-understanding-with-iraq-to-develop-two-oilfields-idUSKCN1RJ06U

SAP cloud business head quits after 27 years in latest top departure

BERLIN (Reuters) - Software company SAP said the head of its cloud business group had quit, the latest in a string of top departures as Europe’s most valuable technology company reshapes its operations. Robert Enslin, who joined SAP in 1992 and had served on its board since 2014, had been tipped by some as a potential successor to Chief Executive Bill McDermott but has departed to take an unspecified opportunity elsewhere. During his two-year tenure as head of the cloud business group, Enslin helped build out SAP’s cloud portfolio, including its $8 billion deal last year to buy Qualtrics, which specialises in tracking online sentiment. SAP did not say if he was getting any sort of payoff.

Enslin’s exit follows other high-profile departures, including Bjoern Goerke, chief technology officer and head of SAP’s cloud platform business, and Bernd Leukert, the board executive who ran global service and support. Programming gurus Rich Heilman and Thomas Jung - both highly respected among SAP developer specialists - said last month they had been let go by SAP, but have now found new roles and are staying, a company spokesman said.

The departures underscore McDermott’s long-stated ambition to transform SAP into a digital platform business, but the exit of long-serving and well-regarded staff with extensive know-how risks alienating core customers. SAP said in January around 4,400 people would leave under a restructuring. Arch-rival Oracle has also announced layoffs and some of its top talent has defected to Google. SAP shares have risen steadily in recent weeks from a nine-month low of 83.95 euros set on Jan.3. They closed at 102.5 euros on Friday, down 1.1 pct on the day.

SAP said board member Jennifer Morgan, who joined the company in 2004 and most recently co-led SAP’s global customer operations, would succeed Enslin as president of the cloud business group with imminent effect. Adaire Fox-Martin will take sole responsibility for global customer operations as president. In a Tweet, Enslin said: “Though my tenure with #SAP has come to an end, my personal belief and public advocacy for SAP’s innovation and vision to help the world run better never will. Thank you … dear colleagues for 27 spectacular years.” SAP will report its results for the first quarter as planned on April 24.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sap-restructuring/sap-cloud-business-head-quits-after-27-years-in-latest-top-departure-idUSKCN1RI05F