State oil giant Sinopec Group has signed a $70 billion oilfield development and liquefied natural gas agreement with Iran, China's biggest energy deal with the number two Opec producer, an Iranian official said on Friday.
The preliminary deal may yield political benefits far sooner than commercial ones as Iran courts China's favour on the UN Security Council, where Beijing holds a potential veto over any action against the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed on Thursday, China's second-largest oil firm Sinopec Group will buy 250 million tonnes of LNG over 30 years from Iran and develop the giant Yadavaran oilfield, said Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, deputy general manager of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
"We've committed to sell Sinopec - after commissioning of the field - 150,000 barrels per day of crude for 25 years at market prices," Hosseini told Reuters.
Sinopec officials were not immediately available for comment.