Mubasher: Total and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) have signed a contract for the development and production of the world's largest gas field.

The French oil and gas giant said in a statement that the project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, including condensate.

The produced gas will supply the Iranian domestic market starting 2021.

The project will be developed in two phases, with an estimated cost of around $2 billion for the first phase, which will consist of 30 wells and 2 wellhead platforms connected to existing onshore treatment facilities by two subsea pipelines.

At a later stage, once required by reservoir conditions, a second phase will be launched involving the construction of offshore compression facilities, a first on the South Pars field, Total revealed.