Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4
By Dalga Khatinoglu – Trend:
A day after Iran sealed $4.8 billion worth contract with French Total and Chinese CNPC to develop South Pars phase 11, its partner in the joint field, Qatar, announced July 4 that its LNG production is projected to rise from 77 million to 100 million tons per year by 2024.
According to Qatar Petroleum’s official website, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum announced that the additional volumes will be secured by doubling the size of the new gas project in the southern sector of the North Field (called South Pars in Iran). “This will increase the North Field’s production of natural gas, condensate and other associated products by one million barrels of oil equivalent per day,” he added.
His statement is the same, while Iran says the pressure of South Pars reservoir would decrease significantly by 2023 and installing 20,000-ton platforms (10 times heavier that the current platforms) with giant compressors are needed to maintain the production volume. Each new platform would cost $2.5 billion and the first platform would be constructed for phase 11 in 60 months.
Iran would need 20,000-ton platforms worth about $25-30 billion to maintain gas output after 2023.
Earlier, Al-Kaabi announced in April that Qatar would increase gas output from North Field by 10 percent (56 mcm/d).
Now, he said that “we announced our intention to develop a new gas project in the southern sector of the North Field that can be targeted for export. With the conclusion of further technical studies, we have decided that the best option would be to double the size of the project to 4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, which constitutes a 20 percent increase from the current North Field production rate, or about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.”
Kaabi added: “After further assessment, we have decided that the best way to develop this huge project is by dedicating it to the production and export of liquefied natural gas, thereby increasing the production capacity of the State of Qatar from 77 million tons to 100 million tons per year, which means a 30 percent production increase. This project will strengthen our position as the world's largest LNG producer and exporter in line with Qatar Petroleum's strategic growth plan and objectives of becoming one of the best national oil & gas companies in the world, with roots in Qatar and a strong international presence."
“Once completed, within 5-7 years from now, this project will raise the production of the State of Qatar to about 6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day,” the President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum said.
Al-Kaabi concluded his comments by saying “This new project will further enhance Qatar's leading position in the global gas industry, while at the same time meeting its worldwide customers’ growing needs for this reliable and environmentally friendly fuel.