Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 23 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
Iran has allocated $9 billion to the South Pars gas field since the beginning of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2010) and this figure will increase to $11 billion until the year end (March 20,2011), Shana reported quoting Pars Special Economic Energy Zone Managing Director Moussa Souri as saying.
Iran is implementing 14 mega projects in its giant South Pars field that will take 35 months to complete.
"Iran has embarked on the development of 14 projects in South Pars, which will officially come on stream in 35 months," Souri said. "Iranian gas industry officials have decided that flaring should be halted in the South Pars gas field as soon as possible to improve the region's environment."
"One of our main priorities right now is to increase the gas exploitation in the South Pars field," Souri added.
Gas production at Iran's giant offshore natural gas field, South Pars, rose by nearly 30 per cent between March 2009 and March 2010. That amounts to around 59 billion cubic meters of processed gas for a year, or around 162 million cubic meters per day.
The South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf in the border zone between Iran and Qatar. The field's reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of gas condensates.
The South Pars field covers an area of 3700 square kilometers. The process of developing gas production projects in the South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone is divided into 28 phases.
According to Pars Oil and Gas Company Managing Director Ali Vakili, production at Iran's giant South Pars gas field will rise to 175 million cubic meters per day in the next two years.
In July, the European Union imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran, which mainly sought to target investment and technical assistance to Iran's refining, liquefaction, and liquefied natural gas sectors.
Iran has in return stated that it will launch multibillion-dollar projects in South Pars with the help of its domestic expertise, experience, and financial resources.
The United Nations Security Council has so far imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran. The sanctions are meant to punish Iran for what the Security Council has deemed questionable nuclear activities.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Iran ranks third in the world in oil reserves and second in gas reserves.