Total announces that it has concluded an agreement with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) setting the framework of the future Pars Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project and its main commercial terms.  In particular this agreement organizes the relationship between the Pars LNG, in charge of liquefaction activities, and block 11 of South Pars (SP11) attributed to Total (60%) and Petronas (40%) to supply the LNG plant.  This agreement is pending approval by Iranian authorities. 

The Pars LNG joint venture is a partnership between NIOC (50%), Total (30%) and Petronas (20%).  The project is designed for an initial capacity of two trains of 5 million tons of LNG per year each.

This agreement allows the start of engineering studies for both the LNG plant and the SP11 development.  These studies will be performed during 2005 and should lead to the decision to launch the project end of 2005 early 2006. 

Total’s expertise in the field of LNG coupled with those of Petronas and NIOC will contribute to building a successful international project for the growing worldwide gas market.