Iran set to award major gas deal to Total
Iran is set to sign a major agreement with the French energy giant Total over the development of one of its biggest gas fields – what could break the ice for post-sanctions investments in the country.
An official from Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum told AFP that the agreement will be signed on Tuesday (8 November 2016) over the development of South Pars Phase 11 – the same project over which the French major was negotiating with Iran before the US-led sanctions drove it out of the country in 2012.
The official – who has not been named – told AFP that Total would sign a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), adding that the HOA would envisage an estimated investment of $6 billion in the project.
The agreement involves a consortium led by Total, which includes the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Iran's Petropars, the report added.
The accord must be finalized within six months, added the official who has been identified as a spokesman of Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum.
The deal marks the return of Total to Iran. It is also the first such agreement between Iran and a Western petroleum company after a nuclear deal with world powers took effect in January, lifting some international sanctions, AFP added.
Total’s negotiations with NIOC over the development of Phase 11 also included the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in what was expected to become Iran’s first such project named Pars LNG. The project, however, was abandoned after the French energy giant had to quit Iran after the sanctions against Iran were intensified. It is still not clear whether the same LNG scheme will be again put on the agenda for the development of Phase 11.
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