Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, deputy oil minister for planning and supervision over hydrocarbon resources, said on Sunday that phases 15 and 16 of South Pars gas field -- the biggest gas reservoir in the world -- would be launched in March 2013.
The South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf straddling the common border between Iran and Qatar. The field's reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensate.
The field covers an area of 3,700 square kilometers. The gas production projects in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone have been divided into 28 phases.
Khojasteh-Mehr added that 55 oil industry projects, worth USD21.5 billion, will come online by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.
He said 32 projects would be carried out by the National Iranian Oil Company, 13 by the National Petrochemical Company, eight by the National Iranian Gas Company, and the remaining two projects would be completed by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.
Khojasteh-Mehr stated that the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Siri Island in the Persian Gulf would become operational in the near future.
The project, which has attracted USD500 million in investments, collects 3.5 million cubic meters of associated gas on a daily basis and converts it into light gas to be used either as feedstock for petrochemical plants or pumped into the national gas grid, he concluded.
press tv/281
A senior Iranian oil official says two phases of the South Pars gas field will be completed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (ends March 20, 2013).
News ID 183813
