BUSHEHR, Iran, June 21 (UPI) -- Beijing remains keen on operating in the North Pars natural gas field despite tight new sanctions on Tehran, diplomats said in Bushehr, Iran.
The U.N. Security Council voted June 9 to place new sanctions on Iran. The sanctions include an increase in the number of Iranian officials and companies under travel bans and subject to asset freezes and additional searches for banned goods in cargo shipped to or from Iran.
Xie Xiaoyan, the Chinese envoy to Tehran, said the China National Offshore Oil Corp. remained interested in Iranian assets, Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.
"Not only the CNOOC company but also the Chinese Embassy and government support implementation of the North Pars project in Iran and in Bushehr province," the diplomat was quoted as saying.
CNOOC signed a memorandum of understanding for North Pars in 2007. CNOOC under the deal agreed to purchase liquefied natural gas from the giant field in the Persian Gulf for the next 25 years.
CNOOC, the envoy said, is already working on transferring LNG out of North Pars.
