French oil and gas company Total will return to Iran through an
agreement with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for the
development of phase 11 of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf,
according to the French company.
The world's largest gas field,
the South Pars 11 project, will have a production capacity of 51 million
cubic meters (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.
According to the company, the South Pars 11 project will
be developed in two phases. The first phase, with an estimated total
cost of around $2 billion will consist of 30 wells. At a later stage, a
second investment phase, involving the construction of offshore
compression facilities, will be launched once required through the
reservoir conditions.
The French company will operate the project
with a 50.1 percent share. The NIOC's subsidiary Petropars and the
Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC will have 19.9 percent and
30 percent stake, respectively.
"Following Total's successful
development of phases 2 and 3 of South Pars in the 2000s, the Group is
back to Iran to develop and produce another phase of this giant gas
field," Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and the CEO of Total said.
"Total
will develop the project in strict compliance with national and
international laws and looks forward to working alongside the Chinese
state-owned company CNPC in this additional international partnership.
This project fits with the Group’s strategy of expanding its presence in
the Middle East, where the origins of the Group lie, and growing its
gas portfolio by adding low unit cost, long plateau gas assets."
Pouyanne added.
Under the terms of the agreement, NIOC and the
project partners will conduct exclusive negotiations to finalize a
20-year contract in accordance with the technical and economic terms
established in the agreement, within the framework of Iranian Petroleum
Contract (IPC) recently approved by the Iranian Parliament.
"In
parallel, Total will launch engineering studies and a call for tender
process so that construction contracts can be awarded immediately upon
signature of the final agreement," according to the statement.
(Anadolu Agency)