Platform A in phase 18 of the South Pars (SP) field in the Persian Gulf was piloted Thursday and its flare was lit, Shana reported.
With the completion of the pipeline connecting different phases of the South Pars field, gas will be carried from Platform A in phase 18 to phases 15 and 16, and will then be processed. A pipeline is to be laid to connect SP phases 15 and 16 to gas platforms in phases 17 and 18 to accelerate the production of gas.
With parts of phases 12, 15, and 18 coming on stream before winter, daily gas production in the South Pars field will reach 100 million cubic meters by March 2015.
Construction of two platforms in phase 18 is expected to be completed by September 2015. Steel frames have been installed and drilling operations in the two phases have had a 30-35 percent progress.
Phases 17 and 18 of SP are designed to produce 50 million cubic meters of natural gas a day, 80,000 barrels of gas condensate, 1 million tons of ethane annually and 1.05 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year.
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.
A consortium of Iranian firms including the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) and Sadra Marine Industrial Company has undertaken the onshore and offshore construction of phases 17 and 18.
Last week, the managing director of Oil Exploration Operations Co. (OEOC) Mohammad Reza Zahiri said the completion of each phase of the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf could cost between $3 billion to $5 billion.
