Iran files complaint against France’s Total over intentional sabotage

The Iranian Gas Institute has filed a complaint against French oil company Total over its act of intentional sabotage to the exploitation of the gas layer of Iran’s giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.

Officials of Iran’s oil industry have recently disclosed Total’s acts of intentional sabotage in South Pars Gas Field, which deprived the Islamic Republic from exploiting the field’s biggest and most important gas layer for 10 years.

Total’s performance also inflicted billions of dollars of losses on Iran, according to the officials.

Iran dismissed France’s Total from Phase 11 of its giant South Pars Gas Field in 2009 following a decade-long delay in exploiting the field’s biggest gas layer.

Tehran signed a $4.7-billion contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in 2009 to help develop Phase 11 of the South Pars, replacing France’s Total SA.

Iran commissioned the development of Phase 11 to CNPC after France’s Total and Malaysia’s Petronas pulled out.

On December 24, 2012, Iran warned it would cancel its contract with China for developing Phase 11 of South Pars due to foot-dragging by the CNPC.

In February 2013, an engineering arm of Iran Defense Ministry volunteered to develop Phase 11 of the massive South Pars after the Chinese contractor pulled out of the offshore project.

The Islamic Republic is currently producing 300 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of gas from South Pars, which contains nearly 50 percent of the country’s and 8 percent of the world’s gas reserves.

Covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers, South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf straddling the common border between Iran and Qatar. The 28-phase field’s reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensate.

Iran, which sits on the world’s second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, has been trying to enhance its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in South Pars Gas Field.