BEIRUT, Nov 8 (Reuters) - France’s Total and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) signed a gas contract on Tuesday with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for the second phase of the South Pars gas field, Iran’s SHANA news agency said.

“This is an agreement in principle. The final contract will be signed early 2017,” the managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) Mohammad Meshkinfam was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Mark Potter)