Iran’s Judiciary Confirms Gas Deal with Total

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Judiciary’s Deputy Chief and Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said a judicial committee tasked with vetting the Oil Ministry’s contracts and business negotiations has examined the contract with Total and has confirmed that there is no problem with the deal.

In July, the Oil Ministry signed a $5 billion contract with Total and China’s National Petroleum Company (CNPC) on development of the 11th phase of South Pars gas field.

Afterwards, some Iranian lawmakers voiced concern about the damages the gas deal would do to the country’s “national interests.”

The administration, however, played down criticism by opponents of the deal, saying the contract would serve the goals of national development, as emphasized by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Total has a 50.1 percent share in the 20-year deal. The state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. has a 30 percent stake and Iran’s Petropars has 19.9 percent.

The deal includes 30 wells and two production units.

The South Pars 11 project will have a production capacity of 1.8 billion cubic feet per day, or 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.