President hails SP 11th Phase development deal with France's Total

In a meeting with Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne on Monday, Rouhani hailed signing the deal for developing 11thphase of South Pars between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Total as positive in line with boosting Iran-France economic-technological cooperation, saying that Iran and France have always had excellent ties and cooperation, IRNA reported. 

Referring to the status of France in the field of economy and technology, he added that implementation of the deal is a positive step in line with enhancing economic and technological cooperation between the two countries. 

The 11th government has always tried to pave the way for promoting major companies’ economic collaboration with Iran through implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iranian president said, noting that due to political resolve in Iranian side as well as among 5+1 Group prompted agreement with Total bear fruit.

Pointing to his visit to Europe, including France after signing JCPOA, Rouhani said that thanks to political resolve of the two countries’ officials, significant deals aimed at augmenting bilateral ties were signed in Paris.

After the landmark JCPOA, Total was expected take step forward to engage in Iran’s oil and has sector, the top executive said, noting, “Our policy is based on cooperation with big companies such as Total.”

Currently, projects worth 200 billion dollars are open for investment in the oil and gas sectors and major foreign firms can participate in the project, he said.

Regional peace and stability requires economic breakthrough and development in the region, as scientific and developmental cooperation can contribute to the campaign against ignorance and poverty which help promote terrorism.

Pouyanne, for his part, expressed pleasure over meeting President Rouhani and described signing agreement with Iran as significant for Total, saying that the agreement came to conclusion thanks to the efforts of the two sides’ officials. 

He also hoped that the deal would clear the way for the other European companies to boost cooperation with Iran.

Noting that JCPOA entails numerous favorable backgrounds for enhancing ties between European states and Iran, Total chief executive said, “We are optimistic about cooperation with the Iranian firms.” 

Total has opted for long-term cooperation with Iran in the oil, gas, petrochemical sectors, he said.