A contract was signed for purchase of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit to be utilized in development of the South Pars oil layers, said managing director of Petroiran Company.
The contract is valid for 21 months, Roham Ghasemi was quoted by Shana news agency as saying on Friday. Several wells were drilled in the oil layers of South Pars, with a few more injection wells to be drilled before the new FPSO's arrival. Afterwards, the oil layers are ready for production.
FPSO unit is a floating vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry for the production, processing of hydrocarbons and for storage of oil. An FPSO vessel is designed to receive hydrocarbons produced by itself or from nearby platforms or subsea template, process them, and store oil until it can be offloaded onto a tanker or, less frequently, transported through a pipeline.
It will be operating on the South Pars oil layers project for six months, and afterwards the FPSO will be handed over to the ultimate producer, the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC). Petroiran, as the contractor, signed an EPCI contract for carrying out engineering, procurement, construction and installation of offshore structures.
Operations at the oil layers of South Pars will last at least 10-12 years, during which time the FPSO is essential, Ghasemi noted. Development of the layer is estimated to require $800 million in investment. Iran’s share of the oil layer in offshore blocks A, B and C is estimated at 7.5 billion barrels.
Development of South Pars oil layers will be carried out in two phases. The project is aimed at producing 350,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in the first phase. With the implementation of the first phase and the field assessments conducted thereafter, it will be determined whether the projected production of 54,000 bpd in the second phase is economically viable.
The South Pars oilfield is located in the center of the Persian Gulf, about 105 km off the Iranian coast, and adjacent to the international boundary with Qatar. The field is the northeastern extension of Al-Shaheen oilfield in Qatar, which has commenced production from the field as early as 1991.
