China Rejoins Iran Gas Drilling Operation in South Pars Site: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – China has rejoined Iran in drilling for natural gas at a major gas field in the Persian Gulf after leaving the field two years ago under US pressure, a report said.
“Iran and China last week started drilling operations in Phase 11 of Iran's supergiant South Pars natural gas field officially,” the report carried by oilprice.com said on Tuesday.
Development work in the field came to an indefinite halt in 2018 when France’s energy giant Total announced it would withdraw from the project over difficulties of working under an American regime of sanctions on Iran.
China’s CNPC, the second-largest stakeholder in the development project, also withdrew later under similar excuses.
That forced Iran to award the entire project to the minority shareholder Petropars, a major Iranian energy company with years of experience in oil and gas development projects.
South Pars is the world's largest gas field, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran's territorial waters.