Of South Pars gas field's total production target, 33 percent has been realized in the past 18 months, since President Hassan Rouhani took office, managing director of Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) said.
The arrangements envisaged by the government have raised the possibility that all phases of South Pars field will go into full operation by 2017, Mehdi Yousefi was quoted by IRNA as saying on Saturday.
South Pars, divided into 29 development phases, is expected to produce 800 million cubic meters of gas per day (mcm/d) once fully operational.
It is the world's largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. It adjoins Qatar’s North Field, which measures 6,000 square kilometers.
Revenues generated by sales of gas condensate and other petroleum products from the PSEEZ are "crucial to the gross national product," and 30 petrochemical complexes are due to be constructed in the area with the aim of curbing crude selling and generating value added, Yousefi said. So far, 12 of the units have gone into operation.
The official pointed to Siraf project, which encompasses construction of eight gas condensate refineries in the PSEEZ with a capacity of 480,000 barrels of gas condensate (60,000 for each refinery). The total construction cost is estimated at around $2 billion. "The project is of great economic significance," Yousefi noted.
He also referred to South Pars Phase 12, as being a "mega project" in terms of human resources, investment, and profitability. It is anticipated to generate $17.5 million in revenues per day.
PSEEZ was established in 1998 for the utilization of South ýPars oil and gas resources and encouraging commercial activities in the oil, gas and ýpetrochemical industries.
Gas Processing to Exceed 200 bcm
A National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) official said the volume of processed gas will go beyond 200 billion cubic meters by the end of the current Iranian year (ends March 20), ILNA reported Saturday.
Director of dispatching division at NIGC Manouchehr Taheri said the rate of gas transfer sustainability has reached almost 100 percent over the first 11 months of this year (March 2014-January 2015).
He said that Khangiran gas refinery, in northeast of the country, was responsible for providing 9 percent of total gas supply in the country playing a crucial role in meeting energy needs of north and northeast provinces.
According to Taheri, gas delivery to power plants stood at 46.5 bcm this year, accounting for more than 25 percent of total gas consumption in the country, while daily gas delivery to industrial sector has hit 100 mcm/d on average.
Serajeh Storage Up
As much as 735 million cubic meters of gas has been moved from Serajeh gas storage facility over the past 110 days for injection into the gas network, a local gas company official said.
Director of District 3 Gas Transfer Company, Houshang Mehrdadfar, told Shana that gas injection into the storage facility had risen by 35 percent compared to last year, reaching 1.24 bcm.
Mehrdadfar said that storing gas at Serajeh was halted in November and transfers started a few days later when cold weather led to rise in gas consumption.
Stating that gas transfers has reached 5 mcm a day on average, he said gas processing installations of the facility could process as much as 10 mcm/d while gas extraction depends on decisions made by NIGC dispatching center.
Gas draw from Serajeh stood at 622 mcm last year. Located 40 km southeast of Qom, the facility is capable of storing as much as 1.5 bcm of gas in the first phase and 3.3 bcm in the second phase.
