The National Iranian Oil Company has earned close to $335 billion by selling South Pars Gas Field’s products, including gas condensates, natural gas and derivatives like ethane, butane, propane, sulfur and liquefied petroleum gas, since 2002.
According to the Oil Ministry’s news portal and based on information from the Pars Oil and Gas Company, a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company, around 2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 2.2 billion barrels of condensates have been extracted from the field over the last 18 years.
“South Pars, the world's largest proven offshore natural gas reservoir in the Persian Gulf, contains at least 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, of which 2 tcm have been extracted by Iran in the past 18 years. It holds 18 billion barrels of condensates,” Mohammad Meshkinfam, managing director of POGC, said.
Iran’s daily withdrawal from SP has increased from 282 million cubic meters per day in 2013 to 700 mcm/d at present.
“The giant hydrocarbon field accounted for 10% of Iran’s gas production in 2002. Nevertheless, the share has now risen to 70%,” he said.
POGC’s CEO said an estimated $50 billion are needed to develop and maintain gas fields across Iran over the next 20 years.
“Of the total investment, about $30 billion would be for development projects in the giant gas field,” he said.
“So far, $78 billion have been invested to develop SP since 2002 when the field’s daily output was 32 million cubic meters. The field then accounted for less than 10% of Iran’s gas requirements.”
Giving a breakdown, POGC’s managing director noted that around $9 billion were spent on the field between 2002 and 2006 to boost production by 113 mcm/d after four years and output reached 145 mcm/d in 2006.
“Between 2006 and 2013, NIOC invested $45 billion in the gas field and daily output approached 287 mcm,” he said.
Close to $24 billion have been spent to develop the field since 2013 and its production currently account for 70% of the domestic need.
“To reach 1.5 bcm/d, NIOC needs at least $30 billion over the next two decades,” he said.
Meshkinfam noted that around 2,150 kilometers of subsea pipelines are in place to connect 36 offshore platforms to 30 onshore refining units, adding that 228 deep wells have been drilled in the sea since 2002.
Heavy Hydrocarbons
In addition to natural gas and condensates, a wide range of heavy hydrocarbons, including ethane (12 million tons per year), butane (6 mt/y) and propane (6 mt/y), are produced in the field annually.
Meshkinfam announced that 10 new gas fields have been discovered recently, mostly in the Persian Gulf.
The huge gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar, covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which (South Pars) are in Iran’s territorial waters and the rest (North Dome) is in Qatari waters. It is estimated to contain large deposits of natural gas, accounting for 8% of the world’s known reserves and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensates.
South Pars has 24 phases, all of which, except Phase 11, are operational. The mega project includes 36 offshore platforms.
According to Hossein Shamshiri, deputy managing director of South Pars Gas Complex, SPGS produces 650,000 barrels of gas condensates per day, a major part (500,000 barrels), of which are piped to the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Hormozgan Province to be converted into gasoline.
“Gas condensate is sold to petrochemical plants in Asalouyeh and Mahshahr in the south as feedstock to produce value-added products and is also offered on Iran Energy Exchange,” he said.
Natural gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in natural gas.
Shamshiri said SPGC is in charge of 12 refineries with 20,000 people on its payroll and produces 700 mcm of natural gas per day, which volume is up 145% (or 400,000 mcm) compared to 2010 when it was 250 mcm/d.
The complex also produces 2,000 tons of sulfur and 2,000 tons of LPG per day.
