Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 30 / Trend M. Moezzi/
Whether the three phases of Iran's South Pars gas field will get under way in three years as planned depends on securing funding and credit, Iran's oil minister Rostam Ghasemi, told the Iranian parliament's (Majlis) energy committee, reported Mehr news. The Tuesday, November 29, meeting's main subject was the status of joint oil and gas field development projects.
A consortium of domestic contractors was given the project to develop eight phases of the South Pars field, which is shared by Iran and Qatar, in 35 months.
The contract stipulates $50 million in monthly penalties if the project is not finished on time. Phases 15-18 of the South Pars have already been delayed, Mr Ghasemi announced earlier.
Delay in getting each phase of South Pars underway costs Iran $9 million daily (97 billion rials), $270 million monthly (nearly 3 trillion rials) and about $3.3 billion yearly (about 35 trillion rials).
Earlier, Mr Qasemi said that the development of phases 15 to 18 of Iran's South Pars gas field, scheduled to be operational by late current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012), were postponed until next year.
Iran and Qatar have shares in the South Pars gas field. The Iranian share which is divided into 29 phases, accounts for about 14 trillion cubic metres of gas, or about eight per cent of the total world reserves and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.