DUBAI/PARIS (Reuters) - France’s Total signed a deal with Tehran on Monday to develop phase 11 of Iran’s South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, marking the first major Western energy investment in the Islamic Republic since the lifting of sanctions against it.

The logo of French oil company Total is seen at a Total gas station in Paris, France, April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen - RTX2AN65

Total will be the operator with a 50.1 percent stake, alongside Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC with 30 percent, and National Iranian Oil Co subsidiary Petropars with 19.9 percent.

The project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day, or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensate, Total said in a statement, adding that the gas will supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021.

The first stage of the South Pars development will cost around $2 billion, Total added.

The project will cost up to $5 billion and production is expected to start within 40 months, Iran’s oil ministry said in a statement.

“This is a major agreement for Total, which officially marks our return to Iran to open a new page in the history of our partnership with the country,” Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said.

The offshore field was first developed in the 1990s. Total was one of the biggest investors in Iran until the country drew international sanctions in 2006 over suspicions that Tehran was trying to develop nuclear arms.

Total signed an initial agreement with Tehran on Nov. 8, a day after the U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who had criticized the deal lifting sanctions against Iran.

Total had delayed the final investment decision as it waited for the Trump administration to renew the U.S. sanctions waivers.

Trump extended sanctions relief for Iran in May, but is imposing new measures against Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, hopes its new petroleum contracts will attract foreign companies and boost oil and gas output after years of under-investment.

A senior Iranian official said at the signing ceremony that he hoped the deal with Total would encourage other international companies to invest in Iran’s oil and gas fields, which need tens of billions of dollars of foreign money.

“This contract will send a strong political message to the world especially at the time that the Americans have adopted a confrontational course (against Iran),” Iran’s SHANA news agency quoted the head of the country’s petroleum contracts committee, Mehdi Hosseini, as saying.

“This shows that the world is not following their path,” Hosseini was quoted as saying.

He added that experience has shown that after a deal with Total, other European and Asian companies would sign deals with Iran.

“In the 1990s, the French were the first who took the risk and invested in South Pars, but ended up paying a huge penalty to the United States later. They are taking the same risk again,” said Reza Mostafavi Tabatabaei, president of London-based ENEXD, a firm involved in oil and gas equipment in the Middle East.

“However, phase 11 of South Pars is twice the size of other phases, a lucrative opportunity that cannot be ignored,” he added.</s>LONDON—France’s Total SA said it will sign a deal on Monday that completes a $1 billion investment in a giant Iranian gas field, capping months of negotiations over the first big move by a Western oil company into the country in years.

Total will be the lead operator in a partnership with China National Petroleum Corp. and Iran’s Petropars to develop South Pars—a gas field under the Persian Gulf that is one of the world’s largest....</s>French oil major Total said on Monday it had signed a contract with Iran to develop the giant South Pars gas field, marking the first major Western energy investment since sanctions against Tehran were lifted.

Total and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a deal to develop phase of 11 of South Pars, which is the world’s largest gas field.

The project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensate, said Total, which also said the produced gas will supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021.

The first phase of the South Pars gas field development will cost around $$2-billion, Total added.

“This is a major agreement for Total, which officially marks our return to Iran to open a new page in the history of our partnership with the country,” said Total Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne in a statement.</s>Iran has signed a $4.8 billion deal with a consortium led by French oil company Total on Monday to develop its giant South Pars gas field, the largest natural gas field in the world.

The deal is the Islamic republic's first with a European oil company in more than a decade, marking a major milestone for a country whose standing as an international trade partner has hung in the balance ever since it was slapped with sanctions in 2006 amid concerns that it was developing nuclear weapons.

Total has taken a 50.1 percent interest in the South Pars project, and alongside state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, which holds 30 percent, and Iran's Petropars (19.9 percent), will begin producing gas for the Iranian market from 2021.

Though the deal has been a slow burn, coming some 18 months after EU sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation were lifted, Iran will be hoping that it marks a new era of investor confidence and a particular boon for its dwindling oil production.

"Total's decision to sign the South Pars 11 contract is a cautiously positive sign for foreign investment in Iran's upstream," Richard Mallinson, geopolitical analyst at Energy Aspects, told CNBC via email on Monday.</s>TEHRAN (TCA) — The French energy giant Total has signed a multibillion-dollar agreement with Iran on the development of an Iranian offshore natural-gas field — the first major Western energy investment since international sanctions were lifted against Tehran under its nuclear accord with world powers, RFE/RL reported on July 3.

The agreement on developing the South Pars offshore gas field also is Iran's largest business deal with foreign partners since international sanctions against Tehran were eased in 2016.

Total's Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne and Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namadar Zanganeh signed the 20-year deal in the presence of managers of the China National Petroleum Corporation and the Iranian firm Petropars.

Total would lead a consortium over the project that would also comprise CNPC and Petropars. The French company will take a 50.1 percent stake in the South Pars Phase 11 project, while CNPC will own 30 percent and Petropars 19.9 percent.

Total signed a preliminary deal with Iran in November, acquiring a 50.1 percent stake in the $4.8 billion project.

The deal includes 30 natural gas wells and two production units.

The offshore field — the largest natural gas field in the world — was first developed in the 1990s, when Total was one of the largest investors in Iran.

But Total effectively left Iran in 2012 when France joined European Union partners in imposing sanctions over suspicions that Tehran was trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Total said it plans to invest an initial $2 billion for the first stage of the 20-year project.

The aim is to start pumping into Iran's domestic grid in 2021, eventually reaching above 56 million cubic meters of gas per day, PressTV reported.</s>TEHRAN: French energy giant Total will finally sign its multibillion-dollar agreement to develop an Iranian offshore gas field on Monday, the oil ministry said, in the biggest foreign deal since sanctions were eased last year.“The international agreement for the development of phase 11 of South Pars will be signed on Mon-day in the presence of the oil ministry and managers of Total, the Chinese company CNPC and Iranian company Petropars ,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.Total signed a preliminary deal with Iran in November, taking a 50.1% stake in the $4.8 billion (4.2 billion euro) project. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will own 30% and Petropars 19.9%.Total will put in an initial $1 billion for the first stage of the 20-year project.It was initially due to sign the contract in early 2017, but CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in February that it would wait to see whether the US administration of President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran.</s>DUBAI, July 2 (Reuters) - Iran plans to sign a new contract to develop its giant South Pars gas field with France's Total and China's CNPC on Monday, the first major Western energy investment since sanctions against Tehran were lifted, an Iranian oil ministry official told Reuters on Sunday.

A spokesman for Total confirmed the company will sign the contract to produce gas for the Iranian market from 2021, adding that the 20-year deal with will be the first Iranian Petroleum Contract (IPC) signed in Iran.

Total holds a 50.1 interest in the South Pars project with state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation owning 30 percent and Iran's Petropars 19.9 percent.

The offshore field was first developed in the 1990s and Total was one of the biggest investors in Iran until the international sanctions were imposed in 2006 over suspicions that Tehran was trying to develop nuclear arms.

Total has decided to return and develop Phase 11 of the South Pars project, which will cost up to $5 billion.

"The international contract for development of Phase 11 of South Pars in the framework of IPC (Iranian Petroleum Contract) will be signed on Monday, July 3, at 14:30, at a ceremony in Tehran attended by Iranian oil minister Zanganeh and senior officials from France´s Total, China´s CNPCI and Iran's Petropars," the Iranian oil ministry official said.

Total's Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne told Reuters last month that the group would make an initial $1 billion investment after the United States extended sanctions relief under the 2015 agreement.

Iran, the third largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, hopes its new IPC contracts will attract foreign companies and boost oil and gas production after years of under-investment.

The vast offshore gas field is shared between Iran and Qatar, where Total is also a major player in gas production as well as in oil and refining. Tehran calls the giant field South Pars while Doha calls it the North Field. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Additional reporting by Bate Felix in Paris; Editing by Andrew Torchia and Elaine Hardcastle)</s>Total and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a deal to develop phase of 11 of South Pars, which is the world's largest gas field.

The project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensate, said Total, which also said the produced gas will supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021.

The first phase of the South Pars gas field development will cost around $2 billion dollars, Total added.

"This is a major agreement for Total, which officially marks our return to Iran to open a new page in the history of our partnership with the country," said Total Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne in a statement.</s>Total (NYSE:TOT) says it will sign a deal to invest $1B Iran's giant South Pars gas field tomorrow, in the first major investment by a Western company in the country’s oil and gas sector since sanctions were lifted .

The contract will mark the culmination of months of talks after the French company late last year signed a preliminary $4.8B agreement to develop the field alongside partners China National Petroleum (NYSE:PTR), which owns 30%, and Iran's Petropars (19.9%).

TOT says the gas from the Pars field will supply the domestic market from 2021.</s>A spokesman for Total confirmed the company will sign the contract to produce gas for the Iranian market from 2021, adding that the 20-year deal with will be the first Iranian Petroleum Contract (IPC) signed in Iran.

Total holds a 50.1 interest in the South Pars project with state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation owning 30 percent and Iran's Petropars 19.9 percent.

The offshore field was first developed in the 1990s and Total was one of the biggest investors in Iran until the international sanctions were imposed in 2006 over suspicions that Tehran was trying to develop nuclear arms.

Total has decided to return and develop Phase 11 of the South Pars project, which will cost up to $5 billion.

"The international contract for development of Phase 11 of South Pars in the framework of IPC (Iranian Petroleum Contract) will be signed on Monday, July 3, at 14:30, at a ceremony in Tehran attended by Iranian oil minister Zanganeh and senior officials from France’s Total, China’s CNPCI and Iran's Petropars," the Iranian oil ministry official said.

Total's Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne told Reuters last month that the group would make an initial $1 billion investment after the United States extended sanctions relief under the 2015 agreement.

Iran, the third largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, hopes its new IPC contracts will attract foreign companies and boost oil and gas production after years of under-investment.

The vast offshore gas field is shared between Iran and Qatar, where Total is also a major player in gas production as well as in oil and refining. Tehran calls the giant field South Pars while Doha calls it the North Field.
Total, CNPC and NIOC sign an investment of $5 billion in South Pars, the world largest gas field.