France’s Total to quit Iran gas project if no US sanctions waiver

Total will pull out of a multibillion-dollar gas project in Iran if it cannot secure a waiver from US sanctions, the French energy company said on Wednesday. The announcement shows how European companies are starting to take matters into their own hands as their leaders struggle to save the nuclear deal with Iran, Reuters said. The US withdrew from the deal, saying it will reinstate sanctions on Tehran. Total signed a contract in 2017 to develop phase 11 of Iran’s 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 French oil and gas major company said it “will not continue [the South Pars 11] project and will have to unwind all related operations before 4 November 2018, unless Total is granted a specific project waiver by US authorities with the support of the French and European authorities.”