News

China's state oil company will join the talks between Iran and France's Total on the development of Iran's giant South Pars gas field.

Reza Kasaeizadeh, managing director of Iran's National Gas Export Company, told ISNA on Sunday that Iran's National Oil Company (NIOC), France's Total and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will soon hold a meeting to discuss the development of an upstream and midstream development of phase 11 of the South Pars field.

The report comes a day after Mehr news agency reported that NIOC resumed its talks with Total on participating in the South Pars project.

According to the report, the French company's representatives announced during Saturday's talks that Total was prepared to construct a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant in the gas field.

In June Iran signed a $4.7 billion deal with CNPC for the development of South Pars Phase 11 after Total failed to meet a deadline set by Iran to re-evaluate negotiations for the venture.

Kasaeizadeh said that Total and CNPC might develop both projects — namely LNG and phase 11 — jointly.