CEO of MAPNA Abbas Aliabadi said his holding is prepared to carry out the unfinished project to develop phase 11 of South Pars gas field and take over the shares of Total, which has decided to back off from working with Iran under the pressure of US sanctions.
Asked about MAPNA’s ability to cover the costs of the project, he said his company has no problem in financing the project, referring to earlier multi-billion-dollar projects completed by MAPNA.
In July 2017, Total signed a $1 billion deal to develop the South Pars gas field, in the Persian Gulf.
According to the agreement, China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) could take over Total’s 50.1 percent stake and become operator of the project if Total withdraws from Iran.
CNPC has now a 30 percent stake, while Iranian company PetroPars holds the remaining 19.9 percent.
Total announced in May that it pulls out of South Pars deal in light of a decision by US President Donald Trump to pull his country out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The US administration has announced a series of new sanctions against Iran, with a very hostile and ambitious aim of halting Iran's oil exports altogether -- something which many experts believe to be impossible.
