Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Christophe de Margerie said he'd spoken with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who told him his country needs Western know-how to exploit the country's substantial reserves.
"The message was as usual 'We have plenty of oil and plenty of gas. We need your management skills, we need your technology. We don't really need your money,'" according to De Margerie. "He said 'We would like you to come back in our country, which is prepared to offer you new terms, new contractual terms'" in a few months.
Total had been the main Western firm developing Iran's South Pars oil and gas field, the largest in the world.
While there is now a bill circulating in the U.S. Senate to derail the November interim deal, which eases restrictions on Iran's ability to export crude in exchange for curbs in its nuclear program, The Washington Post's Greg Sargent wrote this week that the bill faces an uphill climb and that the deal is likely to survive.
London-traded Brent crude oil contracts have come down since the deal was announced in November. Reuters reported this week Iranian oil sales have now climbed for three-straight months.