Japan, bowing to pressure from Washington, pulls out of Azadegan oil project in Iran

The article from asahi.com explains the issue of Japan’s oil drilling in Iran, and how the U.S. involvement with Iran and its plans for sanctions are causing issues for the Japanese. Because Japan has little to no natural resources, they must either purchase their oil from other countries or drill their own offshore. Today, the Japanese company Inpex Corp. currently drills in Iran’s Azadegan field, one of the most prominent reserves in the world. The Japanese government, however, has agreed to pull out of their successful oil project. With Iran’s new nuclear facilities quickly approaching reality, the United States plans to put sanctions on the country, with the suspicions that Iran would have the power to produce nuclear weapons; something they don’t want. The United States government has warned Japan and urged them to stop the drilling in Iran, because their company, Inpex Corp., would be put on the list of sanctions. This would very negatively affect the Japanese economy by not allowing them to trade in the oil sector with other prominent nations such as America and other European countries. While Japan has agreed to the United States’ terms, they are in the process of a negotiation aimed to allow Inpex Corp to be an exception to the list of products and services mentioned on the sanction. While the oil sanctions played a large part in Japan leaving Iran’s oil fields, the danger of the oil field also played a part. Being surrounded by minefields, the Japanese can’t work to their maximum efficiency. None of the oil has gone to Japan either, meaning that they must export it to other countries; which they wouldn’t be able to do with the sanctions. This story is significant because of two main reasons. One, it’s greatly impacting Japan in a negative way. Japan will no longer be able to drill for oil in the oil field they’re currently in, bringing their overall export of good down. Second, this story displays how issues between only two countries can affect the entire world. The Japanese aren’t that involved in conflicts with Iran, while the United States is. Because of these two nations being in a dispute, Japan will suffer from being put on the list of sanctions if they continue their drilling in the area. This just goes to show how when an important country in involved in a serious conflict, most likely other countries will be dragged into it as well.

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201009300244.html