NEW YORK (Dispatches) - Total SA, the only Western energy major investing in Iran, will lose its stake in the South Pars natural gas field to its Chinese partner if the Paris-based company withdraws from the country, the head of National Iranian Oil Co. said.
Total has spent $90 million to help develop the offshore field and won’t be compensated before production begins, Ali Kardor, managing director of state-run NIOC, said Sunday at a news conference in Tehran.
France’s Total has signed Iran’s biggest international energy deal so far since world powers agreed in 2015 to ease economic sanctions on the Persian Gulf country. The company committed in July to develop phase 11 of the giant South Pars field, pledging $1 billion in investment.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pilloried the accord as "insane,” must decide by May 12 whether to re-impose sanctions. Such a step would put pressure on companies like Total that do business in Iran and which also have interests in the U.S.
Total has a 50.1 percent stake in the 20-year South Pars project, with China National Petroleum Corp. holding 30 percent and Iran’s Petropars, 19.9 percent. If Total withdraws, Iran will transfer the company’s full stake to CNPC, based on the contract, Kardor said.
Iran Sells Pars Crude Oil in Global Markets
The CEO of NIOC also said Iran has started selling quality crude oil cargoes, dubbed as Pars Oil, on international markets.
 Kardor said Iran's exports in April broke a record, saying the country also started exporting Pars Oil on global markets during the month.
Responding to reporters on what Iran would do in case the U.S. president decides to walk away from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Kardor said: "For us, the worst time for transferring our oil cash was when the sanctions were in place and we received the money with delays or it would be accumulated. However, all the transactions were finally settled. Things would never become that bad."
He said Iran has no oil money frozen currently, adding the country received 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of oil.
Asked whether breach of the nuclear deal would influence Iran's oil sector, the official said, "We have a bank in Germany which is 100% owned by Iran so we are not worried it would be impacted by the sanctions, unless the whole the banking system is stopped which is rare."
Kardor said Iran's oil exports to Russia had reached a million barrels so far, adding in case the U.S. pulls out of the JCPOA, "NIOC will face no special problem as it operates based on its orders. LCs and sales mechanisms of oil are clear and there will be no barriers to the sale of oil for NIOC."
Iran has the world’s largest gas reserves, estimated by BP Plc at 1,183 trillion cubic feet (33 trillion cubic meters), and is the third-biggest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
23rd International Oil Show Kicks Off in Tehran
The 23rd International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition of Iran was opened in Tehran on Sunday.
Over 1,053 domestic and 600 foreign companies from 37 countries are taking part in the three-day event.
More than 37 foreign countries including Azerbaijan, Austria, Spain, Germany, the UAE, the UK, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, Czech Republic, China, Russia, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Croatia, South Korea, Poland, Netherlands, India, Finland, Hong Kong Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Monaco, Canada, Liechtenstein, Oman, Denmark, Taiwan, the U.S., Norway, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore are among the participants in the exhibition.
The exhibition is aimed at luring investors, exchanging the state-of-art technologies and introducing the companies which are active in the fields of oil exploration and production.