According to PIN, director of engineering and construction department in Natural Gas Storage Company, (NGSC), Mahmoud Ne'mati said that the talks with French Sofregaz have been resumed after 18 month of halt.

Ne'mai further stated that the French company left the project 18 months ago after it faced a problem receiving bank guarantees to build the plan.

Nemati says the first and second phases of the project will cost an estimated 540 million dollars.

He added that during the 18 past months, many companies including German KBB, a Russian and a Polish companies expressed thier interest in taking part in the project.

Sofregas has been in negotiations with the Iranian company since 2001 regarding the construction of a new gas storage facility in the city of Varamin in the south of Tehran.

He added that the plan with a capacity of 540 million cubic meters will be completed by 2011. Iran sits on the world's second-biggest gas reserves after Russia.

The $540 million cost project located in Varamin South of Tehran, has the capacity to reserve 270-540mln cm of natural gas, will be completed in 2011.