The French oil and gas company Total could withdraw from the development operations on the South Pars field Phase 11 (SP11) in the Persian Gulf (Iran) and could be forced to unwind all its activities before November 2018 if it is not granted a special project waiver by the US authorities. The company's activities in Iran are threatened by the United States’ decision to reinstate the US sanctions on Iran and Total is not able to afford to be exposed to any secondary sanction.
In July 2017, a consortium led by Total and CNPC signed a contract with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for the development of SP11, which is operated by Total (50.1%), in partnership with Petropars (100% subsidiary of NIOC, 19.9%), and the Chinese state-held oil and gas company CNPC (30%).
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.