Total interested in purchase of Iranian crude oil

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

France’s energy giant Total SA has voiced interest in buying crude oil from Iran after drafting a cooperation roadmap with the Islamic Republic.

An official from Iran’s petroleum ministry said Total is ready to resume ties with Tehran in the exploration, enhanced recovery, crude oil purchases, production, and marketing of LNG and petrochemical products as the bilateral cooperation roadmap will be outlined after sanctions on Iran are removed.

Mehdi Hosseini, the chairman of the ministry’s oil contracts committee, made the remark following a meeting between Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh and Total’s President of Exploration and Production Arnaud Breuillac on September 20.

He said Total is also ready to be present in marketing Iran’s LNG industry and develop joint oil fields, adding that the improvement of oil reservoirs, exploration, and petrochemical projects were also discussed at the meeting.

Hosseini also said drafting the cooperation roadmap between Iran and Total is dependent on sanctions removal.

Total had been involved in the development of Iran's giant South Pars gas field, which holds about half of Iran's gas reserves, but the project had been overshadowed by haggling over contract terms.

Under pressure from the French and U.S. governments, the French company eventually stopped all production in Iran in 2010.

Earlier, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the group was looking at opportunities in liquefied natural gas projects, but that Total's participation would depend on the terms offered by Tehran to foreign investors.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company, Rokneddin Javad, said at a meeting with Breuillac that with introduction of new contracts, there would be fresh opportunities in exploration, development, production, and enhanced output projects for foreign firms.

Breuillac said Total is expecting the disclosure of the new contracts so that it can plan for investment and cooperation with Iran based on its expertise and capacities.

Iran said it will introduce the new contracts in November in Tehran.

Headed by the agriculture minister and state minister for foreign commerce, a 160-member delegation comprising of French businessmen and corporate representatives including Total and Technip visited Tehran to seek trade opportunities with Iran.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius traveled to Tehran only few days after the nuclear deal was reached between Iran and P5+1 group of world powers in Vienna on July 24.