Iran will sign a deal with France's Total on Tuesday for the development of gas production at the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf, the Iranian oil ministry said.

The Heads of Agreement (HOA) for the development of Phase 11 of the important South Pars field is worth $6 billion (5.4 billion euros), a ministry spokesman told AFP.

The accord must be finalized within six months, the spokesman added.

The agreement involves a consortium led by Total, which includes the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Iran's Petropars.

The deal marks the return of Total to Iran.

It's also the first such agreement between Iran and a Western petroleum company after a nuclear deal with world powers took effect in January, lifting some international sanctions.

The offshore South Pars field, shared by Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, contains some 14,000 billion cubic meters of gas - 8 percent of the world's known reserves.

(Source: AFP)