New gas projects being launched at Iran’s South Pars field will add up to 100 mcm per day to Iranian gas supplies, according to news site Zawya.
Iran desperately needs the boost in production to alleviate gas shortages that have played havoc with the country’s power supply.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh also told IRNA that most of the high priority SP phases, including 12, 15, 16, 17 and 18, will become operational in the current year.
He said most of SP’s gas units should begin production before winter.
“To achieve this, I will hold meetings with private contractors and managers of National Iranian Oil Company every two weeks and will visit the SP on a regular basis,” he said.
He put the daily production capacity of SP phases 12, 16 and 15-18 at 50 mcm, 50 mcm and 25 mcm respectively.
Noting that a major portion of the phases’ gas is extracted from sea, Zanganeh said, “We are lagging far behind the schedule in implementing SP’s offshore gas extraction projects. We should make prompt decisions to enhance offshore installations and accelerate implementation of the projects.”
Referring to the Oil Ministry’s monetary shortage for completing SP projects, Zanganeh said problems exist in this regard but the ministry should be able to fund the projects.
The minister said a portion of the funds will be provided by the National Development Fund (NDF) and a portion will be procured through domestic resources.
Zanganeh stressed that issuing participation bonds will not resolve the monetary problems.
The SP Gas Field, whose development has been divided into 24 phases, is located in the Persian Gulf straddling the maritime border between Iran and Qatar. It is estimated that the Iranian section of the field contains 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensates in place.
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