Sign for Total gas company
© Stephen Hird / Reuters
French oil and gas company Total S.A. has agreed to a $4.8 billion deal with Iran to develop one of the world's largest largest natural gas fields, reports AFP.

The country's oil ministry announced the deal Sunday.

It is Iran's first investment by an international energy company since sanctions were eased last year after reaching an international agreement to slow the development of its nuclear program, reports Bloomberg.

The contract is to develop part of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.

Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh said last month that the deal was in its final stage and would be signed within the coming weeks, Press TV reported.

Qatar's oil and gas infrastructure map
© Reuters
Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne has previously said it was worth the company taking the billion dollar risk of future sanction restrictions being imposed "because [the deal] opens a huge market".

Washington has warned that it would cancel the sanctions waivers if Tehran didn't amend its nuclear program to the limits set out in the international deal.

"We are perfectly conscious of some risks," Pouyanne told Reuters.

"We have taken into account [sanction] snap-backs, we have to take into account regulation changes," he added. "We have to live with some uncertainty."

Total is heading an international consortium with Chinese company CNPCI to develop the gas field. The deal will be signed Monday, a ministry spokesperson told AFP.