France-Iran oil trade surpassed $2b in 2017: Envoy

 France-Iran oil trade surpassed $2b in 2017: Envoy

Oil trade between Iran and France surpassed $2 billion in 2017, French Ambassador to Tehran François Senemaud said on Tuesday, hoping bilateral business will continue as normal, AVA Diplomatic reports.

France’s Total was the first Western oil major to sign a post-sanction deal to develop and operate Phase 11 of Iran’s South Pars, but the company has said its final investment decision on the $2-billion project hinges on the renewal of US sanctions waivers, Press TV reported.

US President Donald Trump waived the nuclear sanctions ‘for the last time’ in January and gave US Congress and European allies 120 days to change a nuclear agreement with Iran or face US abandonment of the pact.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said he would visit Iran on March 5 for talks with Iranian officials, including Trump’s ultimatum to his country as well as Britain and Germany about the nuclear deal.

Paris, however, has vowed to defend the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as the nuclear accord is officially known.

French companies were among the first to resume trade with Iran after the lifting of sanctions on the Islamic Republic in early 2016.

“With the lifting of sanctions against Iran and the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran-France cooperation on oil and gas resumed so that the volume of oil trade between the two countries exceeded $2 billion in 2017,” Senemaud said.

He was addressing the opening of a joint Iran-France workshop on health, safety and environment (HSE) in Tehran.

The ambassador hoped that the development of cooperation between Iranian and French companies in the oil and gas industry, which also includes HSE, will continue.

He said a French delegation had recently visited refining facilities at South Pars and been ‘impressed’ by the dynamism which Iran’s Oil Ministry has created in oil projects.

Several deals were announced during President Hassan Rouhani’s official visit to Paris in January 2016, including a joint venture between carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Iran Khodro as well as plans for Iran to buy Airbus aircraft. There were also deals in the oil, shipping, health, agriculture and water sectors.

State investment bank Bpifrance has said it will finance investment projects of French companies in Iran from 2018, granting up to €500 million ($598 million) in annual credits.

PSA and Renault turned the corner on losses after returning to Iran which has a pent-up demand for new cars in the country of more than 80 million.

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