In a major interview given to French newspaper Le Monde looking at Total’s strong performance in 2017, CEO Patrick Pouyanné was asked about the “American threat” to the company’s “important gas project” in Iran. Pouyanné’s forthright response marks perhaps the first time that a major European executive has publicly called for a diplomatic intervention to protect commercial interests in Iran.
Total’s CEO explained that the South Pars project was “progressing well, without delay, and [Total] continues to work, even if the situation with the American Congress is rather vague.” He noted that even if the Americans “decide to exit the nuclear agreement and if secondary sanctions return in place,” it would pose a “real question” for the French energy giant.
However, echoing comments made to reporters on the sidelines of Davos, Pouyanné did not cast snapback as an automatic game-over for the South Pars project. Rather, he suggested that it was necessary to “clarify the horizon for European business working in Iran.”