Total at Risk of Losing Gas Field Stake to CNPC If It Quits Iran
(Bloomberg) -- Total SA, the only Western energy major investing in Iran, will lose its stake in the South Pars natural gas field to its Chinese partner if the Paris-based company withdraws from the country, the head of National Iranian Oil Co. said.
Total has spent $90 million to help develop the offshore field and won’t be compensated before production begins, Ali Kardor, managing director of state-run NIOC, said Sunday at a news conference in Tehran. Kardor didn’t specify whether Total would receive any compensation if it pulled out of the project in Iran’s section of the world’s biggest gas deposit.
There was no immediate reply to phone calls and an email made outside of normal business hours to the media office at Total’s headquarters.
Total has signed Iran’s biggest international energy deal since world powers agreed in 2015 to ease economic sanctions on the Persian Gulf country in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. The company committed in July to develop phase 11 of the giant South Pars field, pledging $1 billion in investment.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pilloried the accord as “insane,” must decide by May 12 whether to re-impose sanctions. Such a step would put pressure on companies like Total that do business in Iran and which also have interests in the U.S.
Total has a 50.1 percent stake in the 20-year South Pars project, with China National Petroleum Corp. holding 30 percent and Iran’s Petropars, 19.9 percent. If Total withdraws, Iran will transfer the company’s full stake to CNPC, based on the contract, Kardor said.
Iran has the world’s largest gas reserves, estimated by BP Plc at 1,183 trillion cubic feet (33 trillion cubic meters), and is the third-biggest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Total had been working at South Pars until international sanctions forced it to withdraw in 2009. Production from the project would be 2 billion cubic feet a day of gas, Kardor said in July.
With assistance from Claudia Carpenter.To contact the reporter on this story: Arsalan Shahla in Dubai at ashahla@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net Bruce Stanley, Steve Geimann.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- ExxonMobil Racks Up Discoveries in Guyana Block Eyed by Chevron
- Oil Market Sentiment Has Improved Significantly
- EU, US Eye Collaboration on Nuclear Materials
- USA Driving Activity to Increase to All-Time Highs
- EU Electricity Export to Ukraine Up 94 Percent in Two Years
- China Coal Output Falls for First Time since Government Ordered More
- TC Energy to Sell Prince Rupert Gas Pipeline Project to First Nation
- BP Pulse Buys One of Europe's Largest Truck Stops
- UK CCUS Plans Outdated: Think Tank
- I Squared Eyes Full Ownership of Europe Gas Storage Firm
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- EIA Drops 2024 Henry Hub Gas Price Forecast
- EIA and Standard Chartered Offer Up Latest Oil Price Predictions
- Red Sea Region Sees Another Watershed Incident
- Chevron Oil Project in Kazakhstan to Cost $48.5B
- OPEC Voices Encouragement after IEA Affirms Support for Oil Security
- Biden Govt Bares Strategy for Freight Charging, Hydrogen Fueling Infra
- Ukraine Hits Third Russian Refinery In Escalating Drone Strikes
- Rystad Looks at the Buzz Around White Hydrogen
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Is Peak Oil Demand Close?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Reveal Latest Oil Price Forecasts
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Rystad Forecasts Net Production of Top Permian Producers in 2024
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension