French oil major Total SA's (TOT) head of exploration and production said Thursday that talks with Iran over the South Pars liquefied natural gas project continue but are progressing "very slowly."
Partners are still "very far" from getting to a final decision on South Pars, Yves-Louis Darricarrere told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference to discuss Total's earnings and outlook.
The project is complex as partners must negotiate a lot of contracts to get the project off the ground, Darricarrere said. Those include contracts to develop the gas field itself, the shareholding agreement for the plant and the "buy-back model," Darricarrere said.
He added that "what has recently happened" is project partners have decided that a Chinese participation in the project will now happen "as soon as possible."
The Chinese partner is China National Petroleum Corp., Darricarrere said.