VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Air France and KLM are planning to reinstate direct flights to Iran, now that the international sanctions regarding the country's nuclear ambitions are lifted. Iran also planned to request direct flight to the U.S, for the first time since the two countries broke their diplomatic relationship 36 years ago. Air France and KLM are expected to start flying to Iran within the next three months.

China's President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani enter a new era of cooperation between two countries. In their meeting on Saturday, both countries agreed to expand trade to $600 billion in the next 10 years and bilateral cooperation.

Schlumberger Ltd, on Thursday, reported a net loss of $1 billion for the fourth quarter and also said that it has axed 10,000 additional employees, as an effort to adjust its resource and cost base.

The new regulation is being established initiated by the San Bernardino shooting in California that killed 14 people and left 22 wounded. It has drawn many concern and dismay among European citizens, especially those with the dual nationalities as mentioned. Europe could also reciprocate, restricting American with the same duality to enter Europe.

Vietnam warned China against drilling an oil rig in borderline waters in the South China Sea. Vietnam's anxiety over the rig develops subsequent to a recent flight testing carried out by China on a fake island in Spratly archipelago.

An unusual drop in US crude oil, below the already low $28 a barrel, created quite a stir in the market. It seems the oil prices are at a continuous plummeting spree. The current situation seems pretty bleak with supply exceeding demand to a great extent, especially after major oil exporter Iran came back into the scene.

Saudi Arabia oil minister Ali al-Naimi said that stability in the oil market will be attained only through the cooperation amid major manufacturers and this would take time. Ali al-Naimi added that although the worldwide oil market has been experiencing an instability for over 12 months, he is hopeful regarding the return and future of the oil market.

Oil prices plunge to the lowest level in more than a decade to below $33. The economic slowdown of China is also stammering global economy outlook even more.

Next month, Iran is going to reduce prices for all its oil grades export to Asia, according to two people who knew the decision. There will be a reduction on the premium on its main light crude over the similar Saudi blend to the narrowest since the end of 2012 as reported by Bloomberg.

With sanction being waived off, Iran's underdeveloped oil and gas sector is now open to global investors. Six global powers- the US, the UK, Germany, Russia, France, and China- have agreed on a deal to lift sanctions on Iran with conditions.

Media reports on Sunday reveal Iran's plans to buy up to 300 units of Boeing and Airbus planes to replace its antiquated fleet by purchasing at least 90 planes annually. An official of Iran's civil aviation agency projected that Iran would need between 400 and 500 planes in the next ten years.

Western and Middle East insurance specialists see Iran as an appealing $8 billion (£5 billion) market in the wake of its nuclear deal with world powers, though uncertainty over when sanctions on Tehran will be lifted means they are treating the country with caution.

Oil prices suffered their biggest selloff in five months on Monday, falling as much as 8 percent as Greece's rejection of debt bailout terms and China's stock market woes set off a deepening spiral of losses.

Russia will begin importing Iranian oil under a long-heralded oil-for-goods barter arrangement in the coming week, Iran's oil minister was quoted as saying, more than a year after negotiations began.

OPEC is unlikely to change its production ceiling when the group meets in June, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.