TEHRAN- Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, accompanied by Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, left Tehran for the Chinese capital to negotiate implementation of the phase 11 project of developing South Pars gas field with CNPC.

As Zanganeh lamented on Saturday, although 81 percent of the phase 11 project has been officially handed over to CNPC, the Chinese haven’t still done any work on the project.

“We have been negotiating with the Chinese side to determine what measures they are going to take,” IRNA quoted Zanganeh as saying.

Total signed a contract in 2017 to develop phase 11 of South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion, marking the first major Western energy investment in the country after sanctions were lifted in 2016.

The company was pressured to leave Iran after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on companies that do business in the country.

The French company said in August it had told Iranian authorities it would withdraw from the South Pars gas project after it failed to obtain a waiver from U.S. sanctions against Iran.

In May, industry sources said CNPC was ready to take over Total’s stake in the project.

HJ/MA