Iran to Boost Gas Production in South Pars Phase 11
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An official with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) revealed that Phase 11 of the South Pars Gas Field is expected to generate 14 million cubic meters of gas per day by the end of current Persian calendar year (March 20, 2023).
According to IRNA, Karim Zobeidi, NIOC's director of corporate planning, said one of the Oil Ministry's top priorities is ensuring adequate gas supply throughout the cold season.
"Increasing production from the joint oil fields in the West Karun region is a priority for the administration," Zobeidi said, adding that by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, production from the first phase of the South Azadegan oil field should also reach 220,000 barrels per day.
"This year, the final three refinery trains in Phase 14 of South Pars will be commissioned," he stated.
According to the official, South Pars phases 22 to 24 would also be fully operational.
Iran had previously awarded the development of the phase 11 project to a consortium comprising France’s Total, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and Petropars which is a subsidiary of the NIOC, however Total and CNPCI pulled out of the project in 2019 due to the US sanctions.
Currently, Petropars is developing the phase 11 project after its partners left the contract.
The drilling operation for the first well of mentioned phase was officially started in December 2020. In the early production stage, the output of this phase will reach 500 million cubic feet (equivalent to 14 million cubic meters) per day.
Back in January, the managing director of Petropars Company had announced the implementation of two new contracts as of December 22, 2021, to accelerate the development of the mentioned phase.
According to Hamid-Reza Masoudi, the mentioned deals were concerned with the construction of an off-shore pipeline as well as the installation of the phase’s SDP11B platform.
South Pars is the world’s largest gas field, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran’s territorial waters.
The giant field is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight percent of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate. The field is divided into 24 standard phases.