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Iran outpaces Qatar in number of offshore platforms in South Pars gas field

Business Materials 19 October 2013 14:22 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.19/ Trend F.Karimov/

Iran has launched another offshore platform in the South Pars gas field, which is shared with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, outpacing Qatar in this regard, the Mehr News Agency reported.

Iran has commissioned 18 offshore platforms so far in the gas field and it is projected to increase the number to 20 by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 2014). Qatar has four platforms less than Iran in the gas field.

The new platform has been launched in the phase 13 of the gas field.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has announced that the Ministry has a special focus on completing and inaugurating the South Pars' gas field phases 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, IRINN reported.

In August, ex-oil minister Rostam Qasemi presented statistics on the current situation of different phase of the gas field, saying that the phases 15 and 16 are complete by 92 percent. The phases 17 and 18 are complete by 80 percent, and the phase 12 - which equals three phases - is complete by 92 percent. The phase 19 - which equals two phases - is complete b 62 percent.

The phase 13 - which equals two phases - is complete by 62 percent. The phases 22-24 are complete by 62.5 percent. The phase 14 - which equals two phases - is complete by 50 percent, and the phases 20-21 are complete by 50 percent, he said.

Working under sanctions requires special capabilities. We have to manufacture equipment domestically or order other countries to manufacture for us. Moreover, financial transactions are difficult, he explained.

"Once all the phases come on stream, Iran's share of gas extraction will equal to that of Qatar," Qasemi said.

South Pars is a joint gas field of Iran and Qatar. The field on the Iranian side holds 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and has been divided into 29 phases, Phases 1 to 8 have been developed completely, Phases 9 and 10 has been operated, but not to full capacity and Phases 11 to 29 are under construction.

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