Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

National Iranian Drilling Company's deputy director said the phases 17 and 18 of the drilling operations at Iran's South Pars gas field are nearly complete, IRNA news agency reported.

Mohammadreza Takaidi said drilling operations are now complete by 99.2 percent, adding that the drilled wells will be handed over to the employer in the next 45 days.

Takaidi said the wells are 4,900 meters deep on average.

The phase 12 of the South Pars gas field will also become operational when the weather improves.

Rasoul Fallahnejad, operator of phase 12 of South Pars, said the first platform of this phase will be launched when the storms subside, Shana news agency reported.

He said sour gas will be transferred from the offshore section to the onshore section of the phase in calm weather.

Platform A and the 32-inch underwater pipeline for Phase 12, the largest phase of South Pars, are ready to start operation.

This phase will start pumping 40 mcf/d of gas. The single-point mooring of phase 12 was installed last year.

Platform A of phase 12 is ready to produce gas, while platforms B and C in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr are near completion with 95 and 94 percent progress respectively.

After these two platforms become operational, production from phase 12 will reach 70 mcm/d.

Operated by Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), phase 12 is expected to produce 75 mcm/d of rich gas for delivery to the national network, liquefied natural gas (LNG) production units, 120,000 b/d gas condensate, and 750 tons a day of sulfur.

Iran's new oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said earlier the top priority of his ministry is completing several phases of South Pars oil and gas field.

Zanganeh said accelerating natural gas production in phases 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 at the joint Iran-Qatar South Pars complex is a top priority of the Iranian Oil Ministry since their total production adds up to nearly 170 million cubic meters per day.

Iran is currently producing 300 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of gas from South Pars.

Over the past three years, about $46 billion has been invested in the South Pars gas field.

Iran, which sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is making efforts to attract more foreign and domestic investment, especially in South Pars, in order to boost gas production.

The South Pars field, which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, which is about eight percent of the total world reserves.

Iran holds around 33 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves, but it doesn't have the capacity to produce natural gas in excess of domestic need for export.