Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Wednesday French oil major Total has two months to seek exemption from US sanctions after Washington’s withdrawal from the international nuclear deal.
“Failure to secure an exemption would mean China’s CNPC will replace Total on the South Pars gas project”, Oil Ministry’s news portal quoted Zanganeh as saying. The minister added that an agreement with Europe would inspire other potential buyers of Iranian oil.
“Europe is buying only one-third of Iranian oil, but an agreement with Europe is important to guarantee our sales and find insurance for the ships ferrying the crude. Other buyers would also be inspired by this,” he said.
According to Ali Kardor, the head of National Iranian Oil Company, "Total has spent $90 million to help develop the offshore field's Phase 11 and will not be compensated before production begins."
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.
According to industry sources, under the terms of the agreement to develop Phase 11 of South Pars, CNPC could take over Total’s 50.1% stake and become operator of the project if Total is forced to withdraw from Iran.
CNPC has a 30% stake, while Iran's state-owned Petropars holds the remaining 19.9%.
