French major Total has been at the forefront of those companies looking to position themselves for re-entry into Iran, in preparation for the planned lifting of sanctions from early next year.

Senior executives have made frequent visits to Tehran, while CFO Patrick de la Chevardière recently indicated that the firm was in discussions with the Iranians about resuming their partnership to develop ‘Phase 11’ of South Pars, the world’s largest gas field. Phase 11 was to have fuelled the 10mn tons/year Pars LNG project (MEES, 6 November). (CONTINUED - 715 WORDS)