Phase 19 of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf will be launched in the fall with capacity to produce 25 million cubic meters of gas per day, a senior official at the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) said, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.
Rahmi Tabrizi said Platform C of Phase 19 is to be installed by autumn with 25 mcm/d capacity, while platforms A and B are scheduled for launch in the mid-2016. He added that construction of Phase 19 offshore sector is approximately 85 percent completed.
Phase 19 is planned to produce 50 mcm of natural gas and 75,000 barrels of gas condensate per day as well as 400 tons of sulfur, one million tons of liquefied natural gas and one million tons of ethane per year.
According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, phases 13-18 are a priority, followed by phases 19, 20, and 21. SP output is expected to rise by nearly 170 mcm per day upon the completion of seven high-priority phases in the near future.
In addition, four SP phases are planned to come into operation in the present Iranian year (ends March 2016), according to managing director of the Pars Special Energy Economic Zone (PSEEZ) in the southern Bushehr Province.
"Phases 15 and 16 will be launched before October and phases 17 and 18 are expected to come into operation by next March," Mehdi Yousefi said. SP gas output capacity is now near 440 mcm/d and could increase to 550 mcm/d, the official noted. Its non-gas exports accounted for 21 million tons in the previous Iranian year, worth around $19 billion.
South Pars 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.
