Total confirms deal with Iran, takes 50.1% stake in South Pars gas field

• Total (NYSE:TOT) confirms it signed a heads of agreement with the National Iranian Oil Co. for the development of phase 11 of South Pars, the world's largest gas field.
• TOT is the first western energy company to sign a major deal with Iran since the lifting of international sanctions earlier this year; the French major says it will avoid U.S. sanctions on Iran by using its own euro-denominated cash to finance the deal.
• TOT says it will operate the SP11 project with a 50.1% stake, while NIOC subsidiary Petropars will have a 19.9% stake and China's CNPC (NYSE:PTR) will 30%.
• The project’s first phase - the drilling of as many as 30 wells in the Persian Gulf - will require a $2B investment, and a second phase, expected when the wells are producing, will require an additional $2B, TOT Patrick Pouyanne says; an Iranian official said yesterday the project would require a $6B investment.
• The SP 11 project will have a production capacity of 1.8B cf/day, or 370K boe/day, and the produced gas will be fed into Iran's gas network.