Iran's Offshore Engineering and Construction Company has installed the first offshore platform for Phase 11 of South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf, the managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company said.
"Docking operation to install the 11B platform [SPD 11B] was carried out with the help of the domestic Oceanic 5000 crane ship," the Oil Ministry’s news website also quoted Mohammad Hossein Motejalli as saying.
According to the official, the 3,200-ton deck, hauled from Qeshm Island to its location last month, was fixed on a jacket that was already in place.
“As soon as the second deck is installed, close to 14 million cubic meters of natural gas will be extracted from four wells that have already been drilled,” he said.
The extracted gas will be transferred to onshore refineries in Asalouyeh and Kangan in Bushehr Province, he added.
“Phase 11 will generate close to $5 billion in revenues annually for the National Iranian Oil Company.”
The Phase 11 development project includes the construction and installation of the jacket and topside of the phase, drilling 12 wells and laying pipes on the seabed from the phase’s platforms to onshore refineries.
Pointing to the implementation of pipe-laying projects to connect the offshore deck to onshore refining facilities in the port city of Asalouyeh, he said 100-km-long 32-inch pipes were laid as planned.
Petropars Group, IOECC and POGC, which are in charge of developing the phase, have been using parts and equipment produced by Iranian manufacturers and the services of domestic companies in various sectors, as it aims to enhance the country's technical and engineering capabilities.
Phase 11 is the only one among the 24 phases of the giant joint field in the Persian Gulf, which has not been developed yet.
Iran shares the field with Qatar.
Drilling Operations
According to Hamidreza Masoudi, the contractor of SP Phase 11, about 12,000 meters of drilling operations to dig four production wells have been carried out, while it is estimated to reach 15,000 meters.
When operational, the phase will also produce 75,000 barrels of gas condensates per day.
The giant gas field is spread over 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran’s territorial waters and the rest in Qatari waters.
Petropars was founded in 1998 to help develop the vast energy resources and is one of the leading contractors of upstream oil and gas projects. It has recently been tasked with the development of the giant South Azadegan Oilfield in Khuzestan Province and Belal Gas Field off the Persian Gulf.
South Pars Gas Complex in Bushehr Province accounts for 73% and 92% of total natural gas and gas condensate output respectively in Iran.
"The share of fossil fuel in Iran's energy basket is 74%, of which 50% are produced by SPGC,” director of Supervision Department of the complex, Ali Ahmadi, said.
The official noted that SPGC accounts for 96% of liquefied petroleum gas, 100% of ethane and 55% of sulfur produced in Iran.
Data pertaining to 2022 show a rise in output of a variety of byproducts, namely ethane (20%), LPG (25%) and sulfur (12%), compared to the year before.
Giving a breakdown, he noted that SPGC produces 16,000 tons of ethane on a daily basis, most of which is used as feedstock in Morvarid, Kavian and Jam petrochemical companies in Bushehr Province.
“LPG output reached 22,000 tons in SPGC in the 300-day period, showing a 25% rise compared to a year ago,” he said, adding that the commodity is exported to international markets via LPG carriers by land and the sea.
According to Ahmadi, SPGC produced 680,000 tons of sulfur during the 10 months, of which 480,000 were sold in East Asian markets.
