Total eyes Iranian LNG project at discounted price: report
French oil supermajor Total is eyeing another investment in post-sanctions Iran: entering the country’s $12.3 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility project, Iran LNG, industry sources said Tuesday.
According to a Reuters report, Total is in talks to purchase a “multi-billion-dollar” stake in the partially-built project, seeking a discount from the pre-sanctions price in exchange for reviving the stalled facility.
The company is in the running for the stake, along with several other oil majors, but any deal was still some way off, the sources said.
Iran’s NIOC planned the construction of the onshore LNG plant in southeast Iran in 2006. The project, to be located in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) includes two trains, each with capacity of 5.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), Kallanish Energy learns.
The FEED (Front End Engineering Design) of the plant was conducted by Japan’s JGC and France’s Technip, while the process of revision and new edition of the design has been carried out by Snamprogetti and Linde. The latter is the supplier of the liquefaction technology, according to the National Iranian Gas Export Co. (NIGEC).
However, international sanctions placed a huge shadow on the project, reportedly forcing Germany’s Linde to store the plant’s finished first train and part of equipment the for the second train for years. The company is said to be seeking reimbursement for the storage costs.
Reuters said some $2.3 billion have been invested in the facility so far, which is more than half-built, with two storage tanks, a jetty and a power plant. Total costs to bring the project online is estimated at $10 billion, it said.
NIGEC, which holds 49% of the project alongside Iran Oil Pension Investment Fund, is promoting investment opportunities in the Iran LNG project, as well as new LNG projects, floating LNG facilities, and pipelines.