Total considers South Pars project split

France's Total is considering a request from Pars Oil & Gas Company (POGC) to split its South Pars project into smaller packages in a bid to reduce costs.

A senior POGC executive says dividing the deal into smaller initial phases will help to move it forward.

POGC has imposed a June 2008 deadline for Total to make a final investment decision on Phase XI of the project.

'We have held meetings with senior management at Total and they are looking at our new proposal,' says the executive. 'We are hoping to hold another round of talks before the end

of 2007.'

Ladislas Paszkiewicz, vice-president for the Middle East at Total, would not comment on POGC's proposal but says he is still hopeful of reaching an agreement. Earlier this year, Total said costs at the field had doubled to more than $10,000 million in the past three years (MEED 13:4:07).

'The cost element makes things complex,' says Paszkiewicz. 'There is still a lot to be achieved but we are hopeful of progressing this project.'

He adds that Total has no other projects in Iran, should South Pars fall through. 'We have worked on this project for several years, so I do not think replacing one project with another is going to help

this situation.'

'Qatar is the only other country [in the region] that offers such huge opportunities, and we all know the current situation with the North field,' he adds, referring to the moratorium on development of the giant

Qatari f