Total Says to Conclude Iran’s South Pars Gas Deal before Summer
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The chief executive of Total said the French oil major plans to seal an agreement to develop phase 11 of the huge South Pars gas field in southern Iran soon.
Total still plans to conclude the Iran South Pars gas deal before summer, Patrick Pouyanne told journalists on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting, Reuters reported.
The remark came after Pouyanne held talks with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh in Vienna on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting on Friday night.
Total signed a heads of agreement with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in November 2016 but said earlier in February that a final decision on the deal hinged on the new US administration renewing sanctions waivers on Iran.
The top official with the Total said the signing of US sanctions waivers, among other hurdles, cleared the path for the deal to be signed.
Pouyanne added he had met the Iranian oil minister in Vienna on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting.
In similar remarks on Saturday, Zangeneh said that Iran will sign a $4 billion deal with the French firm to develop phase 11 of the giant gas field before summer.
“The signing of the contract with Total is very close and will be done in less than a month,” Zangeneh told reporters, according to Press TV.
The South Pars 11 project will have a production capacity of 1.8 billion cubic feet per day, or 370 000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The produced gas will be fed into Iran's gas network.
Total will operate the project with a 50.1% interest alongside Petropars at 19.9% and the Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC at 30%.
