Iran 'suffered a loss' of $80 billion over 16 years because of Total's decisions to withdraw from Iran, according to Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, a member of the Planning and Budget Committee of the Iranian parliament, on Tuesday.
According to the official news website of the Iranian Judiciary, Mizan News Agency, Deligani criticized Total's withdrawal from the country due to U.S. sanctions on Iran in 2012, and their subsequent rejoining upon the commencement of trade again with Iran following the nuclear deal signed with Iran and P5+1 countries in 2015.
'Although the company came to and left Iran many times, it has not suffered any damages. But the ministry had signed a [recent] agreement with the company again without time limits,' he added.
On Aug. 20, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that Total officially backed out of this contract for developing phase 11 of the the supergiant South Pars field with the country.
The contract was signed between the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and a consortium of Total, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) International and Petropars in 2017 with Total's initial investment of $1 billion.
CNPC International will take over Total's share of the contract, increasing the Chinese company’s share to 80.1 percent.
On Saturday, Zanganeh said the French energy major is not expected to pay a fine to Iran for the withdrawal from the contract to develop phase 11 of the South Pars gas field.
However, the amount that Total has already spent will not be repaid until the project becomes operational, Zanganeh added.
- Total quits South Pars project due to U.S. sanctions
In mid-2015, Iran signed a landmark nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).
The agreement placed tight restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
In May of this year, however, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the agreement.
Following the U.S. withdrawal, Total announced that it would 'not be in a position to continue' the project in Iran and would 'have to unwind all related operations before Nov. 4, 2018 unless Total is granted a specific project waiver by the U.S. authorities with the support of French and European authorities.
Reporting by Tolga Akbaba
Additional reporting by Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
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