South Pars Phases to Be Operational In 2012

Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) said two phases of the South Pars gas field, Bushehr province will be operational by next September.

“Phase 17 is scheduled to become operational in July while Phase 18 of the South Pars gas field will be launched in September 2012,” IOEC project manager for phases 17 and 18 Mohsen Jazayeri said, according to Presstv.

“At Khorramshahr Yard and for the construction and launch of facilities, we have not used any foreign workers or specialists and only Iranians have been involved in the project,” he added.

IOEC manager of Khorramshahr Yard, Hussein Badvi said developing the joint gas field was one of the priorities of the government.
“They have already completed the construction of five decks at Khorramshahr Yard and began the construction of the tripod six months ago. Now they are ready for installation,” Badvi said.

“Our company is capable of supplying tools, materials, equipment and spare parts for oil and gas platforms,” he added.

South Pars gas field is a natural gas field located in the Persian Gulf and shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share, which is divided into 24 phases, holds about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the world’s total reserves and more than 18 billion barrels of Liquefied Natural Gas resources.

The managing director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) recently said gas production capacity of SP’s fifth refinery is expected to increase by six million cubic meters per day.

Javad Oji stated that given the importance of using the maximum potential of the country’s gas refineries, NIGC and its consulting company launched the project to raise the production capacity of SP’s fifth refinery in mid-November, IRNA reported.

He said that based on preliminary studies, the daily capacity of the refinery will increase from 51 million cubic meters to 57 million cubic meters.

The official said that the objective has been achieved through efforts of engineers and workers of the SP gas complex.

Earlier, oil minister announced that an investment package to the tune of $50 billion has been devised for commissioning two new phases of South Pars gas field.

Rostam Qassemi said the phases will be launched by the end of the current Iranian year (in March 2012). He noted that a major portion of the funds required for implementing SP projects has been secured so far.

Qassemi also announced the discovery of a natural gas field with a reserve of about 50 trillion cubic feet in Iran’s territorial waters in the Caspian Sea.

“The gas reserves of the field are estimated to be several times more than previous estimates” he said.

Qasemi said that previously, Iran’s natural gas reserves in the Caspian Sea were estimated at about 11 trillion cubic feet, but the reserves of the new field have put the figure at several times more than the previous amount.

He added that the new gas field is not a joint field and is located within Iran’s maritime border. The Islamic Republic discovered 13 new oil and gas fields with in-place reserves of 14 billion barrels of oil and 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from August 2009 to August 2010, Iran’s Oil Ministry reported.

Iran holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves.

Meanwhile, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said the number of on-shore and off-shore drilling rigs will increase to 134 by March 2014.

 Ahmad Qale’bani added in a bid to attain the goals of the oil industry in the Fifth Five-Year Economic Plan (2010-15), 36 new rigs will be added to the drilling installations, IRNA reported.

Currently, 98 on-shore and off-shore drilling rigs are operational nationwide, he said. The official praised NIOC’s capabilities in drilling operations and providing technical-engineering services and stated it is expected that NIOC will focus on off-shore drilling which is more specialized.

He emphasized the use of new technologies and accelerating drilling operations, adding, “The economy is one of the main bases for administering a country and oil is its most important sector.”
Commenting on NIOC’s plans to maintain and increase oil production, he said “In the last [Iranian] year (ended March 20), we witnessed a growth in crude production, and we intend to continue this trend in the current year.

By commissioning phases 9 and 10 of the South Pars gas field, Assaluyeh in Bushehr province and increasing gas production by 50 million cubic meters per day, the output will rise by 10 percent in the winter, he noted.

Qale’bani further stated that increasing gas production capacity by 20 million cubic meters per annum is on NIOC’s agenda.
NIOC’s managing director reiterated that by the end of the Fifth Plan, crude production is expected to exceed five million barrels per day, and gas production should reach 1.47 billion cubic meters per day. To materialize these goals, oil industry needs to invest some $156 billion, he concluded.