TEHRAN – The National Iranian Oil Company will soon finalize an agreement with France’s Total on the development of South Pars gas field’s phase 11.

The agreement will be finalized by the end of Farvardin - the current Iranian calendar month ending April 20, ISNA quoted NIOC Managing Director Ali Kardor as saying on Saturday.

“The [French] company has already allocated $15 million to this project in accordance with the first phase of the contract,” the official said.

In February, Reuters quoted Patrick Pouyanné the chairman and CEO of Total as saying that Total aimed to make a final investment decision on the $2 billion project by the summer, but the decision hinges on the renewal of U.S. sanctions waivers.

Referring to the comments by Total’s chief executive, the NIOC head said that Total has not declared any conformance to the U.S. positions toward Iran.

The South Pars phase 11 project aims to produce 1.8 billion cubic feet a day of gas, equivalent to 370,000 barrels of oil. The produced gas will be fed into Iran’s gas network.

EF/MG