Chinese state oil firm withdraws from US$5 billion deal, Iran says
- South Pars field agreement, struck after Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact, appears to be latest business casualty of US pressure campaign on Tehran
- French oil company Total SA pulled out of project earlier due to US sanctions on Iran
China’s state oil company has pulled out of a US$5 billion deal to develop a portion of Iran’s massive offshore natural gas field, the Islamic Republic’s oil minister said on Sunday, an agreement from which France’s Total SA earlier withdrew over US sanctions.
The South Pars field deal, struck in the wake of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, appears to be just the latest business casualty of America’s pressure campaign on Tehran following US President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the US from the deal.
It also comes as China and the US engage in their own trade war, as Beijing and Washington levy billions of dollars of tariffs on each other’s goods.
Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, quoted by the ministry’s SHANA news agency, said on Sunday that the China National Petroleum Corp. was “no longer in the project.” He did not elaborate or give any reason for the withdrawal, though SHANA said the company “had pulled out of a contract” to develop the field.
Officials in Beijing did not immediately acknowledge their decision. Phone calls to the CNPC rang unanswered on Sunday and its website bore no mention of the withdrawal.
