The CEOs of Royal Dutch Shell and Total SA said Tuesday lifting sanctions on Iran could produce an energy windfall for the rest of the world.
Peter Voser of Shell and Christophe de Margerie of France’s Total were speaking at the Oil & Money conference in London.
They said Iran’s oil and gas resources are needed to help meet global long-term demand.
They urged a lifting of sanctions, including the oil and gas embargo, as soon as possible.
The United Nations and other countries want Iran to renounce its nuclear development program.
President Barack Obama and Iran’s new leader, Hassan Rouhani, have started talking about restoring more normal relations. The countries have been divided since the Iranian revolution 30 years ago.
Before the tightening of sanctions against Iran during the past few years ago, Total and Shell were the biggest foreign investors in Iran’s oil and gas industry.
Total helped Iran develop the South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf, one of the biggest gas fields in the world.
Earlier this year, Total paid American regulators $398 million to settle charges that it bribed Iranian officials to gain access to the South Pars field.
In 2005, Shell completed two projects worth $800 million for development of the Soroosh and Nowrooz offshore oil fields.
