Total May Invest in Iran's Offshore Gas Fields

The boss of French oil and gas company Total said on Monday that it would be happy to be the first western oil company to reach an agreement with Iran, but a deal is yet to be signed.

"Discussions are going on and we'll see if we can sign in the coming days," Patrick Pouyanne told CNN Money on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi petroleum conference.

Asked about the reported $6 billion value of the potential deal, Pouyanne said: "...developing a phase of South Pars (gas field) is more in the range of $2 billion dollars than $6 billion."

Iran's SHANA news agency said on Monday that Total and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) would sign new contracts on Tuesday with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on the second phase of the South Pars gas field.