The venture to develop South Pars Gas Field's Phase 2 in the Persian Gulf has gained traction, as its feasibility studies have been completed by an unnamed French company, the chief executive officer of Pars Oil and Gas Company said on Friday.
"The [French] company has submitted its proposals to POGC … Final decisions will be formulated and announced soon," Mohammad Meshkinfam was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
The cooperation is meant to give a clear picture of the field's condition as well as equipment and investment requirements to raise output.
Referring to the bulk of options on the table, Meshkinfam said that after finalizing the plan, it will be put out to tender and a contractor will be selected to develop the phase.
French energy giant Total was active in phases 2 and 3 of South Pars, but it ceased operations in Iran in 2010 following disagreements over contract terms as well as pressure from the French and US governments over oil and trade sanctions against Tehran.
Boosting Pressure
To keep the pressure stable and avoid any drop in the field output, a total investment of $20 billion is required, Meshkinfam said.
According to the official, POGC has yet to decide if it wants foreign companies to take on the task or to hand it to domestic contractors.
Referring to SP's oil layer, Meshkinfam said the layer has its own complexity that calls for collaboration with international contractors.
"We are currently extracting crude from the layer, but keeping the pressure stable and boosting output rates entails the involvement of foreign companies," he said.
Qatar started crude oil production from the joint field over two decades ago while Iran tapped into the oil layer as late as March 2017.
The country currently draws crude oil at an average rate of 25,000 barrels per day, using a floating production storage and offloading vessel, and has so far shipped over 3 million barrels.
South Pars is being developed in 24 phases. The field is called North Dome in Qatar's territory.
According to an estimate, Iran's recoverable reserves stand at 10 trillion cubic meters and those of Qatar are estimated to be over 25 trillion cubic meters.
Iran has boosted gas production to around 880 million cubic meters per day, more than two-thirds of which come from South Pars.
The country hopes to complete all South Pars phases by March 2019, which target requires an investment of $20-30 billion.
It has the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and the fourth-largest oil reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
