SEC Probing Total, Eni and Norsk for Commissions Paid in Iran

David Gauthier-Villars, Dow Jones Newswires:

Total SA (TOT) Chairman Thierry Desmarest Tuesday said the French oil company will respond to an inquiry from the U.S. stock-market watchdog for details about its operations in Iran "as long as this doesn't raise problems with the limits of sovereignty."

"We aim to have a fruitful cooperation with the SEC," Desmarest said at an annual shareholders' meeting, referring to the U.S.'s Securities & Exchange Commission. READ MORE

Desmarest's remarks are likely to be interpreted as a sign that Total may set limits to what it will disclose about its business in Iran, either because some contracts are confidential or because Total deems that a U.S. embargo on Iran doesn't extend to French corporations.

Total first disclosed it had received a request from the SEC for information on its operations in Iran in a legal filing posted on the regulator's Web site in mid-April.

Sources have said the SEC wants to know whether Total and other oil companies doing business in Iran, such as Eni SpA (E) and Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY), have paid commissions to middle persons to secure contracts in the country.

The SEC reviews Total, Eni and Norsk Hydro's earnings and operations because both companies are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The U.S. prohibits most trade with Iran.

Total, however, has repeatedly said it doesn't consider itself bound by the U.S. embargo.

The French company developed several oil and natural gas fields in Iran and is a partner in the giant South Pars liquefied gas project.

Iran, OPEC's second-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, sits on some of the world's largest reserves of gas.