As global trade with Iran moves back into gear after the lifting of sanctions, the National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC) is said to be in talks with unidentified foreign firms to sell at least 20% of its 49% stake in the country’s “frontrunner” LNG export project, a joint venture with Iran Oil Pension Fund.

The $3.3 billion project to produce 10.5 million t/y of liquefied gas per year, caught in limbo due to the sanctions, is said to be 60% complete, but imports of new equipment are still needed.

German gas and engineering group Linde is believed to have offered to help Iran complete its LNG projects, which also include LNG Pars and LNG Persian. Linde was one of the most active international players in Iran before sanctions were imposed, and – along with compatriot BASF – is known to be eager to get back into the country.

Iran’s LNG export target has been pegged at 40 million t/y. Three contracts previously awarded to Shell, Repsol and Total to produce the gas had to be abandoned in 2011.

Currently, investments of around $800-1 billion in the Iranian LNG industry are being weighed by international companies according to remarks attributed to a senior energy official.

Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Bijan Zangeneh, has said the lifting of sanctions would enable Iran to fulfill its 20-year vision plan, including its target to produce $70 billion of petrochemicals a year at current prices.

At more than 34 trillion cbm, Iran’s natural gas reserves are considered the world’s largest but the country’s share of the global trade in gas at present is seen as being below 1%.