Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 00:42:16|Editor: MJ

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Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne speaks at the deal signing ceremony in Teheran, Iran, on July 3, 2017. Iran and a consortium of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), France's Total signed a 4.8-billion dollar deal here on Monday to develop a major Iranian gas field in the Persian Gulf. (Xinhua/Ahamad Halabisaz)

PARIS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- French oil giant Total confirmed a major deal with Iran on Monday to develop phase 11 of the South Pars project in the Gulf, the first major energy deal between Iran and the West since Tehran signed an international nuclear deal in 2015.

Under the 20-year contract, the project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and the produced gas is expected to supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021, Total said in a press release.

With an estimated cost of 2 billion U.S. dollars, the South Pars project's first phase "will consist of 30 wells and two wellhead platforms connected to existing onshore treatment facilities by two sub-sea pipelines."

The scheme's second phase will involve "the construction of offshore compression facilities, a first on the South Pars field," it added.

"This is a major agreement for Total, which officially marks our return to Iran to open a new page in the history of our partnership with the country. We are proud and honored to be the first international company to sign an IPC (Iranian Petroleum Contract) which offers an attractive commercial framework," said Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and chief executive officer of Total.

"This project is in line with the group's strategy to expand its presence in the Middle East and grow its gas portfolio by adding low cost, long plateau assets," he added.