French energy giant Total will sign a contract with Iran to buy crude oil, the company's chief executive said Thursday after meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during his visit to France.

"We plan to sign a contract which will allow us to take between 150,000 and 200,000 barrels of crude a day," Patrick Pouyanne said.

The deal will be signed at the French presidency later Thursday.

With the end of economic and financial sanctions, Iran has decided to increase its oil production to 500,000 barrels a day, a decision which further weakened oil prices last week.

The price of crude oil is currently around $32 (29 euros) a barrel, about 70 percent less than it was in June 2014.

Iran, which has the world's fourth-largest oil reserves, currently produces 2.8 million barrels a day, about a million of which are destined for export.

Pouyanne said other French projects were also in the pipeline with Iran.

"Total has been very present in Iran, very loyal to Iran. We have obviously envisaged other projects but they need to be discussed," he said.

By AFP