Iran said to be in talks with South Africa to develop GTL projects

The deputy managing director of Iran’s National Petrochemical Industries Company, Mohammad-Hassan Peyvandi, said that Iran and South Africa are in talks to jointly develop gas-to-liquids (GTL) projects.

Peyvandi said he was informed of South Africa’s willingness to contribute to the project in a recent meeting with Thembisile Majola, South Africa’s deputy energy minister.

Meanwhile, South Africa is said to have expressed interest in importing natural gas from Iran once the sanctions imposed by Western countries against Iran are lifted. It has expressed readiness to participate in projects to liquefy natural gas in the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to Iranian media.

Majola was quoted as saying that Pretoria is trying to prepare the ground for the participation of state-owned and private enterprises in Iranian projects to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as GTL.

South Africa’s energy giant Sasol was previously involved in discussions with Iran over the development of the country’s first GTL project in Iran’s South Pars Phase 14. However, Sasol is said to have eventually abandoned the project in 2006, as technical issues and outside pressures from the West mounted over Iran to halt its nuclear program.