Login With Google
China to expand energy footprint in Iran
Why it is in news?
- The next episode of friction between Beijing and Washington could be staged in Iran, where a top Chinese energy firm, defying latest U.S. sanctions, is likely to expand its stake in a giant Iranian gas field.
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC)
- Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA has reported that China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the world’s third-largest oil and gas firm, has replaced Total, the French energy giant, in the South Pars 11 project.
- China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has replaced Total of France with an 80.1% stake in the phase 11 of the South Pars (gas field).
South Pars- World’s largest gas field
- South Pars is the world’s single largest natural gas field, which is being developed in several phases.
- In 2017, Total acquired a 50.1% stake in the South Pars 11 project, following the 2015 sanctions-easing Iran nuclear deal.
- CNPC held a 30% stake, while the rest was allocated to Iran’s Petropars Ltd.
- But after its withdrawal from the Iran atomic deal in May, Washington gave foreign firms 90 to 180 days limit to scrap their businesses from Iran.
- It warned that non-compliance would entail “secondary sanctions”, which would bar dissenting firms from doing business in the United States.
Source
The Hindu