U.S. sanctions force French conglomerate Total to withdraw from Iran’s South Pars project
French oil and gas company Total will not continue its obligations in connection with Phase 11 of the South Pars project and is currently working with U.S. and French authorities to explore the possibility of withdrawing from the project, the company’s statement says.
In addition, Total confirms that leaving the project will not affect the target of 5% annual average production growth in the period from 2016 to 2022, Interfax reported.
On May 8, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Washington is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal that was reached in 2015 by six international powers (Russia, the United States, Britain, China, France, and Germany). As a result, the United States is restoring all of its sanctions against Iran, including secondary ones that have to do with other countries that do business with Iran, noted PRIME.
“As a result, as mentioned earlier, Total will not be able to continue participating in the South Pars 11 project and will be forced to cease all activities on the project until November 4, unless it receives special permission from the U.S. authorities and the support of French and European authorities. This permission must include protection of the company against any secondary sanctions under U.S. law,” Total stated.