Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.1 / Trend, F.Milad/
The Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi has said all the phases of the South Pars gas field will be put into operation by next 3 years.
Ghasemi said development of the South Pars gas field is well underway, Mehr news agency reported.
The managing director of the Pars Oil and Gas Company has earlier announced that all phases of the South Pars gas field will be operational by 2015.
Mousa Souri said that according to a plan drawn up by the company, every six months a new phase will come on stream.
Souri told the Shana news agency that phases 15 and 16 will come on stream by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012).
Once these two phases come on stream, 30 million cubic meters of gas will be added to the country's gas production capacity.
Souri also said $15 billion should be invested annually in the South Pars projects over the next four years.
South Pars is a gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is the world's largest gas field and is shared by Iran and Qatar.
Iran, which possesses the world's second largest gas reserves and third largest oil reserves, is trying to play a more active role in oil and petrochemical transactions in international markets.