Dubai: The chairman of China’s national oil and gas company on Sunday said the company has not made any decision on whether to take over Iran’s South Pars gas development if Total quits the project.
“We have not made a decision [on Iran] yet,” said CNPC chairman Wang, speaking through a translator on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in Abu Dhabi.
Asked to confirm reports that the Chinese firm had already invested $20 million (Dh73.46 million) in preparations for the development of the giant South Pars gasfield, Wang said: “I have no idea about that number,” before laughing.
Reuters reported last Friday that CNPC was prepared to step in if Total pulled out and has conducted significant due diligence over the past 12 months on the belief that the US was highly likely to reinstate sanctions. In December, Reuters reported that a $1 billion deal inked in last July had given CNPC the option to take over Total’s stake if it left Iran.
Total announced that it had signed a deal worth up to $5 billion to help Iran develop the world’s largest gasfield, South Pars, in July of 2017.
Last week US President Donald Trump announced the decision to withdraw the country from a nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers and reimpose US sanctions on Iran.
Trump pulled the US out from the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), citing the difficulty of preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb under the “decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement.”
In his televised remarks from the White House, the president then promised to impose “the highest level of economic sanctions” on Iran, and by extension any company doing business with the country.
Any company that works under US jurisdiction or with US companies will have between 90 and 180 days to terminate their contracts with Iranian entities, according to Trump. Total has not announced yet whether the sanctions will force them out of Iran.
The move has caused concern among firms who have already inked agreements with Iran following the lifting of sanctions after the nuclear deal was struck in 2015.
Last year, German exports to Iran rose by around €400 million (Dh1.75 billion) to some €3 billion, while French exports to Iran doubled to €1.5 billion in 2017, reflecting the warming of ties between Europe and the Gulf state.
US aerospace firm Boeing has fallen victim to the move to reimpose sanctions: Washington has said it will now revoke Boeing’s licence to sell $20 billion worth of aircraft to Iran.
