TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is in talks with a Chinese company for completing the South Pars phase 11 project, Mehr news agency reported.

The official made the remarks during a parliament energy committee meeting which was held on Monday.

“Representatives of the Chinese company are already in Tehran.” Zanganeh said.

Total signed a contract in 2017 to develop phase 11 of South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion, marking the first major Western energy investment in the country after sanctions were lifted in 2016.

The company was pressured to leave Iran after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on companies that do business in the country.

The French company said in August it had told Iranian authorities it would withdraw from the South Pars gas project after it failed to obtain a waiver from U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The offshore South Pars field holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves ever found in one place.

EF/MA