$40 Million Iranian Offshore Gas Platform Sinks During Installation

LONDON–Iran Wednesday confirmed it was seeking ways to recover a natural-gas platform made by an affiliate of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards after it sunk in the Persian Gulf, a setback for the country in its effort to cope with international sanctions.

Divers have been deployed to see how the $40 million, 1,300-metric-ton platform can be pulled up, in the giant South Pars field, the state-owned Pars Oil and Gas Co. Ltd., said on its website.

However, a full-scale recovery has yet to start because of unfavorable weather conditions in the Persian Gulf, it said.

The platform sunk to the bottom of the Gulf as it was being installed by POGC and its builder, Iranian Marine Industrial Co., or Sadra, which is controlled by the Guards.

POGC said it was investigating the causes of the incident, which remain unclear. A spokesman for Pars Oil and Gas couldn’t be reached.

Faced with a ban to import key oil technologies from the U.S. and the European Union, Iran is building its own oil equipment in order to achieve self-reliance.

Write to Benoit faucon and Selina Williams [email protected]

(c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company

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