Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said the country’s gas production capacity from South Pars gas field, a super giant field in the Persian Gulf, shared with Qatar, would cross an estimated 26.4bn cubic feet (bcf) per day by late 2019.
He addressed the crowd at the opening of Phase 13, 22, 23 and 24 of the gas field, into which Iran has invested $11bn, according to state news agency Shana. Khatam Al-Anbia Construction Headquarters said as part of the project, it drilled 76 wells 100km off the Assaluyeh coast in the Persian Gulf.
However, US sanctions have had an impact; according to the press statement by Shana, “the licensing round for the export of Iran’s gas to Oman was ready but, thanks to the sanctions, no international developer had bid to develop the project so far.”
He also noted that the US “has caused tensions in the oil market for over a year now and they are responsible for it; and if this trend continues, the market will be more tense. We do not know whether US waivers would be extended or not, we will do our job but they (the US) says something new every single day.”
A Chinese delegation is considering developing Phase 11 of South Pars, and Zangeneh said that the Nationa Iranian Oil Company CEO travelled to China for discussions this week.
Iran’s gas production capacity stands at 29.7bcf per day and is expected to reach 31bcf per day in the next calendar year, which begins on March 21, and 33.5bcf by 2020. The Iranian Minister of Petroleum added that gas production from South Pars stood at an average of 21.5bcf per day while production capacity was 23.3bcf per day from the joint gas fields.
