In line with plans to boost gas output from South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf, the first offshore platform of the field's Phase 22 was successfully installed late on Friday.
According to Farhad Izadjou, director of phases 22-24, the platform, weighing 2,300 tons, was installed by domestic contractors in an operation that lasted less than two hours, the National Iranian Oil Company's news portal reported.
"Efforts are underway to lay the corrosion-resistant pipes and finish the hookup operations so that the platform can on stream by late November," he added.
"Once completed, the platform is slated to produce 14.2 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, which equals half the capacity of a standard South Pars phase."
Domestic Expertise
Izadjou noted that A22 has been built after 2.33 million man-hours of work by Iranian contractors.
"All processes, including the design, manufacture and installation operations of the platform, have been conducted by Iranian companies … A bulk of the equipment used in the construction of the mega structure have also been supplied by domestic producers," he said.
The official noted that Iran Marine Industrial Company, also known as SADRA, is building 10 offshore platforms for phases 13, 14, 22, 23 and 24 of South Pars, and A22 is the first one delivered by SADRA.
"The satellite 24A Platform's construction is 95.5% complete. The Phase 23 main platform and the satellite B24 Platform have also registered 91.2% and 84.2% physical progress, respectively," he said.
The development plan of phases 22 to 24 of South Pars is underway by Petrosina Arya and SADRA with the goal of producing 56.6 mcm/d of sour gas, 75,000 barrels per day of gas condensate, 400 tons of sulfur, 2,870 tons of LPG and 2,740 tons of ethane per day.
Phase 13 Gas Sweetening Train
The second gas sweetening train in the giant field's Phase 13 went on stream on Friday, only two months after the implementation of the first train, the director of Phase 13 development project said.
"The facility is currently active with a capacity of 7mcm/d of gas and once fully operational, it will inject 14.2 mcm/d of the strategic fuel into the national gas grid," Payam Motamed was also quoted as saying by NIOC's portal.
According to the official, the first phase went on stream in late March. It currently receives 9 mcm/d of sour gas from phases 6 and 8.
The two remaining gas sweetening trains of Phase 13 are planned to be complete by the end of the summer. Once the phase goes into full swing, the phase's gas output will exceed 50 mcm/d.
Phase 13 projects consist of offshore infrastructure, including 38 wells, four platforms and four pipelines stretching about 90 kilometers off the Persian Gulf coast, as well as onshore facilities, including four gas refining units each with a daily processing capacity of 14 million cubic meters.
The giant South Pars field 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.
South Pars is developed in 24 phases. Iran hopes to complete all phases by March 2019, a target officials say requires an investment of $20-30 billion.
The country’s gas production capacity stands over 800 million cubic meters per day.
