The Ministry of Petroleum of Iran has announced that the Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC has renounced to participate in the development of the South Pars gas field Phase 11 (SP11) in the Persian Gulf (Iran). Iran’s Petropars, a 100% subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), will gain control of the entire project and develop the offshore block on its own.
In July 2017, a consortium led by Total and CNPC signed a contract with NIOC for the development of SP11, which was expected to be operated by Total (50.1%), in partnership with Petropars (19.9%), and CNPC (30%). In July 2018, Total pulled out of the contract, after failing to secure a special project waiver from the US authorities, which had reinstated sanctions against Iran. CNPC took over Total’s participation in November 2018.
The South Pars / North Dome gas field is the largest in the world and is shared between Iran and Qatar. Its development on the Iranian side is divided into about 30 phases, 25 of which are active now. Phases 1-10 are intended for domestic consumption and injection into Iranian oil fields, while gas from the other phases should be exported. Phase 11 is expected to have a production capacity of 2 bcf/d (over 56 mcm/d or 400,000 boe/d) as of 2021.