Two platforms of phases 22-24 in the South Pars Gas Field off the Persian Gulf will come on stream next January, operator of the two phases said.
Farhad Izadjou said the two phases have made 92% progress in the onshore and offshore sections, and will become fully operational within two months, the Oil Ministry news portal Shana reported.
Platform 22 is installed and the phase 22-24 onshore refinery is ready to receive gas from the seabed. The platform will produce 14 million cubic meters of sour gas per month after the drilling rig is separated.
“Drilling operations for the satellite platform 24A will end next week and the deck is ready for shipment at the Iran Marine Industrial Company, also known as SADRA, in Bushehr Province," Izadjou said, adding that the operations for laying corrosion-resistant pipes to connect the platform to the main platform 22, have been completed.
When installed, Platform 24A will extract 14mcm of natural gas per day, which will be piped to onshore sweetening trains.
"The entire process, namely design, manufacture and installation of the platform, was undertaken by local companies. The bulk of the equipment needed for construction of the mega structure was supplied by domestic companies," he said.
Phases 22 to 24 aim to produce 56.6mcm of gas per day, 75,000 barrels/day of gas condensate, 400 tons of sulfur, and annually produce 1.05 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas plus one million tons of ethane.
Iran uses natural gas for heating purposes and as feedstock for thermal power stations that constitute more than 80% of its installed electricity generating capacity. Gas also is injected into underground reservoirs to increase crude oil recovery.
The giant South Pars gas 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.
More than $72 billion has been spent on the huge energy venture since work started on the field and investments are expected to rise to $87 billion.
Iran produces 880 million cubic meters of gas per day. Output is estimated to reach 1.3 billion cubic meters when all the phases are completed by 2020.
