A top Iranian oil official said France’s Total cannot avoid Iranian energy deals, saying the world's fourth-largest oil producer was too attractive for them to ignore.

"Iran's resources and market are too attractive for the French to give up," Gholam Hossein Nozari, deputy oil minister, was quoted by ISNA as saying.

He was commenting on whether French oil and gas companies have been prevented from participating in Iranian projects.

France has called for European sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

It wants European firms not to bid for new business in Iran and for financial institutions to scale back investments, in a drive to pressure Tehran parallel to U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Under a deal last year, French oil giant Total is set to exploit phase 11 of Iran's South Pars gas field to produce liquefied natural gas for export and to build a liquefaction plant, but the deal is held up by a dispute over prices.

"We have not been informed of any official position regarding a withdrawal by phase 11 LNG buyers," Nozari said.

Gazprom, Serbia in oil, gas talks

Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller held talks with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica in Belgrade Tuesday to discuss prospective investment projects in Serbia, Gazprom told Itar-Tass.

"The sides discussed oil and gas cooperation," the company said. "They focused on large investment projects, which would be implemented in Serbia. Gazprom views as a single project its participation in the privatization of the NIS-Oil Industry of Serbia, the development of Serbian pipelines within the South Stream project, and the enlargement of underground gas storage facilities for gas deliveries and transit."

"The interlocutors discussed the future development of the Yugorosgaz joint venture,” the company said.

Gazprom Export delivered about 2 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Serbia last year, the company said. The state company Srbijagas transports, distributes and stores natural gas in Service. That company was formed by the Serbian government in reorganization of NIS-Oil Industry of Serbia in October 2005.

The three sides signed a memorandum of mutual understanding last December. Under the agreement, they affirmed the possible construction of a gas pipeline through the Serbian territory.

Russia to sell Uzbekistan oil, gas

Russia’s LUKoil has set up a special marketing company, Lukoil Overseas Supply & Trading Ltd., to keep in line with the terms of a production-sharing agreement under the Qandim-Hauzak-Shodi-Qongirot project.

The company's goal is ensuring the sale of oil and gas being produced as part of the project at maximum profitable prices for the participants in the agreement -- the Uzbek government, Lukoil Overseas and the Uzbekneftegaz national holding company, according to Uzbek newspaper Biznes-Vestnik Vostoka.

The company's tasks are conducting marketing surveys and holding negotiations with potential customers, concluding and fulfilling agreements on the sale of the products, managing commodity and money flow and joint bank accounts as well as sharing profits received from the sale between the participants in the agreement.

The first sale of the raw materials is planned for the end of the year and will be synchronized with the launch of the Hauzak gas facility in the southern Buxoro Region. Overall volume of the natural gas being produced there will be exported abroad through the main network of the Gazprom joint-stock company. The initial export volume of gas will be up to 3 billion cubic meters annually.

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Closing oil prices, Oct. 10, 3 p.m. London

Brent crude oil: $77.50

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $80.36

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(e-mail: energy@upi.com)