China’s state oil company has pulled out of a US$5 billion deal to develop a portion of Iran’s massive offshore natural gas field. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh announced that China National Petroleum Corp. was “no longer in the project,” but did not offer any further details or reason for the withdrawal. Officials in Beijing have also neglected to comment on the decision so far. Still, despite China’s decision to pull from the project, Tehran-based Political Analyst Saeed Leilaz believes business and trade ties between the two nations will not be impacted.