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Today, only one foreign company – the China National Petroleum Corporation – is present in one phase of the field, which lies beneath the waters of the Gulf. Iran’s state-owned and quasi-private companies have taken over all other projects and they struggle with a shortage of investment and equipment.

Under scorching sun and in high humidity near the town of Assaluyeh, Iranian workers are busy building pipe racks and doing electrical and mechanical tasks on onshore facilities.

But their numbers are relatively small. The state-owned Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) puts the number of workers at 16,000, compared with as many as 100,000 in previous years. But the company insists that any comparison with the past is irrelevant.