TEHRAN (Reuters) - Talks between Iran and China's Sinopec on developing a major Iranian oilfield will be completed within two months, Iran's deputy oil minister was on Tuesday quoted as saying.

Sinopec Group, the state-owned parent of listed Sinopec Corp. , agreed in October 2004 to take the lead in developing the Yadavaran Oilfield and to buy 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year for 25 years.

But completion of the deal, like other Iranian energy contracts with foreign firms, has been subject to protracted negotiations and several delays.

Disagreements over pricing for the deal, which could be worth as much as $100 billion, were behind a previous delay, an industry source said earlier this year.

"The talks will be finalized in less than two months and the contract will be come into effect two months later," Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said.

Yadavaran has estimated reserves of about 3 billion barrels and is expected to produce 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), roughly the same volume of crude that China now imports from Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter.

If China does sign a deal, it could draw fire from the United States. Washington has already penalized Chinese firms for working in Iran, which it accuses of seeking nuclear arms and funding anti-Israeli militia. Tehran denies the charges.