Offshore staff
TEHRAN, Iran – Total has started arranging finance of $15 million for initial development of Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf, according to news service Shana.
Ali Kardor, managing director of National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), said Total would issue a statement reaffirming commitment to its original plans, referring to the Trump administration’s proposed re-think on the lifting of sanctions against Iran.
“This is a different issue from the sanctions’ snapback which will not take place all at once,” Kardor said. “The US might take stances but that does not mean the sanctions can be put back in place. This is an issue international companies are already aware of.”
Total signed aheads of agreement (HoA) with NIOC last year for development of Phase 11, which will have a production capacity of 1.8 bcf/d. Production will be exported through Iran’s gas network.
Under the arrangement, Total will operate the project with a 50.1% interest in partnership with NIOC subsidiary Petropars and China’s CNPC.
The project partners will conduct exclusive negotiations to finalize a 20-year contract in accordance with the technical and economic terms established in the HoA, within the framework of theIranian Petroleum Contract recently approved by the Iranian Parliament.
In parallel, Total is due to initiate engineering studies and a call for tender process so that construction contracts can be awarded directly following signature of the final agreement.
South Pars 11 will be developed in two phases. The first, with an estimated cost of around $2 billion, calls for 30 wells and two wellhead platforms connected to existing onshore treatment facilities via two subsea pipelines.
Under a later, second investment phase, offshore compression facilities will be added when required by reservoir conditions.
03/03/2017
