Italy, South Korea in deal for Iranian gas

TEHRAN, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Iran signed contracts with Italian and South Korean companies to develop phase 12 of the South Pars natural gas field, official said.

Gholam Reza Manouchehri, managing director of Iran's Petropars Oil and Gas Co., announced the signing of series of deals worth $4 billion to develop the field, the largest in the world.

Iran and Qatar share the South Pars complex located in the Persian Gulf. South Pars holds an estimated 450 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, which represents about 47 percent of the total reserves in Iran.

The contracts include a $2 billion contract with the South Korean Daelim Co. and a $2 billion contract with Italy's Tecnimont, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.

Iran announced recent plans to enhance activity in its domestic energy sector in preparation for U.S. sanctions targeting its gas industries.

Seyfollah Jashnsaz, managing director at the National Iranian Oil Co., said the country already started production at certain phases of South Pars.

Work on phase 12 is slated for 2011.