Baku, Azerbaijan, June 19
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
A contract for development of Phase 11 of South Pars gas field by a Total-led consortium is almost finalized, Ali Kardor, Iran’s deputy oil minister, said.
The 600-page contract is under review by France’s Total, China’s CNPC and Iran’s Petropars, Kardor said, Iran’s Energy News Portal reported June 19.
He further said that the final contract is expected to be signed next week.
Total signed a preliminary deal for the South Pars project last year, becoming the first Western oil major to sign an energy agreement after the European Union and the United States eased sanctions as part of a pact to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
If finalized, Total would operate the project with a 50.1 percent stake, China's CNPC would own 30 percent through one of its subsidiaries and Iran's Petropars would have 19.9 percent.
South Pars is part of a Persian Gulf reservoir that is one of the biggest gas fields in the world.
Iran’s side of the field contains about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of gas condensate. But its development has been hobbled by years of Western sanctions imposed over what the West said was Tehran's bid for nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.
Earlier Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that the contract will be signed before the end of the current administration’s tenure. Less than two months remain for the incumbent administration. Hassan Rouhani, who was re-elected in May, will be inaugurated for a new term on August 6.
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