Total's negotiations with Tehran on a multi-billion dollar contract to develop a major Iranian gas field are at a standstill, the head of the French oil major said.

'They (negotiations) have not been broken and they have not been resumed either. They are not in a very advanced state,' chief executive Christophe de Margerie told journalists on the sidelines of an economic forum in southern France.

Last month, the official Iranian news agency IRNA said Tehran had signed a $4.7 billion contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop phase 11 of South Pars, replacing Total which it had accused of delays.

'We are waiting for things to calm down after all the news that came out, incidentally, in the run up to the elections. People have been played off politically against each other,' de Margerie said, adding Iran remained a key country for Total.

'Liquefied natural gas is a complicated thing and our Chinese partners are good investors and good candidates but I think, in the nicest possible way, that they don't have the same kind of expertise as we do.'

Total has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran's oil company NIOC to develop Phase 11 but the project was overshadowed by haggling over contract terms.

NIOC has accused Total of delays and said it had given the Paris-based company an ultimatum six months ago to finalise work before Tehran moved forward with another partner.

The South Pars reservoir is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian part is divided into 24 phases.-Reuters