hina National Petroleum Corp. is expected to take the lead on a $5 billion project to develop Iran’s share of the world’s biggest gas deposit, taking over from France’s Total SA, which halted operations after U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
State-owned CNPC, which joined a consortium with Total and Iran’s Petropars Ltd. in 2016 to develop Phase 11 of the South Pars Gas field, is set to increase its stake in the project from the current 30 percent. Total had originally agreed to take a 50.1 percent interest.
CNPC will become the lead operating partner, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing Mohammad Mostafavi, National Iranian Oil Co.’s investments and business head. Terms of the contract haven’t yet officially changed, according to Shana, the Oil Ministry’s news service. Calls to CNPC went unanswered on Sunday. Total declined to comment.
Total, which finalized its agreement with Iran in July 2017, had already spent some 40 million euros ($45.7 million) on the project when Trump announced in May that the U.S. would exit the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.