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Iran to complete South Pars gas field development in 3 years

Iran Materials 16 December 2013 14:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 16

By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:

Iran's giant South Pars gas field will be finished in three years, deputy director of Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company, Gholamabbas Jokar said, the ISNA News Agency reported on Dec. 16.

"Once all the phases of South Pars come on stream, the oil ministry needs to put the focus on other fields such as Golshan, Ferdowsi, Farzad A, and Farzad B," he said.

"Iran needs 48 offshore drilling rigs in the Persian Gulf. We have currently installed 20 drilling rigs there and need 28 more," Jokar explained.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Dec. 3 that developing the giant South Pars gas field is a top priority for the oil ministry.

"The drilling operations in some phases are behind schedule, but we hope to complete them in time," Zanganeh added.

"We will accept no excuse from the contractors," he warned.

"President Rouhani has stressed that the gas field should become fully operational as soon as possible, so the ministry will do its best to facilitate the development projects of different phases," the Fars News Agency quoted Zanganeh as saying.

Zanganeh also said the development projects of South Pars gas field's phases will be accelerated in the next calendar year (to start March 21, 2014).

He went on to note that the current development pace of the 5 top-priority phases of the project is satisfactory compared to the period of time before the current administration took office.

Iran, which sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, has been trying to enhance its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investment, especially in its South Pars gas field.

The South Pars/North Dome gas field is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share (South Pars), which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.

The country also holds the world's third-largest proven oil reserves.

The country's total in-place oil reserves have been estimated at more than 560 billion barrels, with about 140 billion barrels of extractable oil. Moreover, heavy and extra heavy varieties of crude oil account for roughly 70-100 billion barrels of the total reserves.

Edited by C.N.

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