The third processing train of phase 12 of South Pars oil field in the Persian Gulf on Friday commenced operations by injecting sour and dry gas into the 5th national pipeline, director of phase 12 said, Shana reported.
"Phase 12 will receive 14.1 million cubic meters of gas per day (mcm/d) from the 5th national pipeline," Rasoul Fallahnejad said, adding that gas will be refined in phase 12 and pumped into the national gas network.
A processing train is a liquefied natural gas plant's liquefaction and purification facility. Each liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant consists of one or more trains to compress natural gas into liquefied natural gas. Platform A in phase 12 has come on stream with 25 mcm/d capacity. Platforms B and C are in the pre-commissioning stages and due to go into operation in December.
Once fully operational, phase 12 will produce 85 mcm/d of sour gas, equal to 65 mcm/d of sweet gas.
Phase 12 is South Pars’ biggest phase in terms of the volume of activities as well as investment and production level.
Production of sweet gas via the 3rd train of phases 15 and 16 also commenced by receiving dry and natural gas from phases 6, 7 and 8, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) said. Production of sweet gas from three refining units in phases 15 and 16 is expected to reach 40 mcm this winter. A fourth unit is in operation to refine sour gas, according to Ali Akbar Shabanpour.
The two phases are aimed at producing 56.6 mcm/d of natural gas, 75,000 barrels of gas condensate, close to one million tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and one million tons of ethane to provide feedstock for petrochemical complexes. 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. The field is estimated to contain 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of gas condensate. It adjoins Qatar’s North Field, which measures 6,000 square kilometers.
Seventy two percent of Iran's daily gas consumption (approximately 300 mcm/d) is supplied from SP. The field's output is expected to increase by 100 mcm by the end of the present Iranian year (March 2015), and all its phases are due for completion by 2017.
