Iran, French Total in talks to finalize petrochemical deal
The French oil and gas company Total is negotiating to finalize a deal for investment in Iran’s petrochemical industry.
Iran’s National Petrochemical Company and Total reached a preliminary agreement last year, for joint construction of a petrochemical complex with participation of Iran’s private sector.
If the parties finalize the agreement, a petrochemical complex including a steam-cracker unit will be manufactured in Iran’s coastal areas in the Persian Gulf.
The complex will receive ethane, naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other liquefied gases as feedstock.
Steam cracker units are facilities, in which a feedstock is thermally cracked through the use of steam to produce olefins, including ethylene and propylene.
The complex will also have downstream units to sell its products in domestic and international markets, according to a MoU which signed between Total and Iran’s National Petrochemical Company in 2016.
Total also signed a preliminary deal for development of Phase 11 of South Pars last year, becoming the first Western oil major to sign an energy agreement after the European Union and the United States eased sanctions as part of a pact to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
If finalized, Total would operate the project with a 50.1 percent stake, China's CNPC would own 30 percent through one of its subsidiaries and Iran's Petropars would have 19.9 percent.
The South Pars Phase 11 project will have a production capacity of 1.8 billion cubic feet per day. The produced gas will be fed into Iran’s gas network.
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