China pulls out of South Pars project

Lights out for CNPC at South Pars: A gas flare burns in part of the South Pars gas field on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf in Assalouyeh, Iran

AP/VAHID SALEMI

related stories

News Wires

 30 July 2012 04:08 GMT

China's national petroleum company has pulled out of developing Phase 11 of Iran's offshore South Pars gas field, Iranian media reported on Sunday, blaming the firm for constant and "unprecedented" delays in the project.

Tehran signed a $4.7 billion contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in 2009 to help develop Phase 11 of South Pars, replacing France's Total, which was also accused of delays.

Citing information from Iran's Oil Ministry, Mehr News Agency said CNPC had pulled out its workers from Asaluyeh, the city on the shore of the Middle East Gulf close to the South Pars gas field.

The report said CNPC had delayed the project for more than 1130 days and had not even begun preliminary steps such as levelling land and putting up…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index