TEHRAN — Around 3.5 million barrels of gas condensates have been exported from the South Pars (SP) since the installation of a single buoy mooring (SBM) at the giant gas field, said a fax released by the Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC).

The SBM No. 2 has been installed on 27 November at the South Pars gas field, southern Iran, and since then, some 3.5 million barrels of gas condensates have been exported from the field, it added.

The last consignment of gas condensates were destined for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including 350,000 barrels of the product.

Single buoy mooring No. 2 is a set of equipments built for the export of gas condensates. The set is the second one that Iran has so far constructed and installed at the offshore part of SP phases 6-8.

A 30-inch pipeline at 7 km and an undersea manifold are other parts of the set installed 42 meters deep by SADRA Co. within an EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contract.

SBM No. 2, with an offload capacity of 5,200 cubic meters per hour, weighs 200 tons and can moor giant 320,000-ton oil tankers. Construction of the SBM No. 2 has saved $10 million for the country. Moreover, the use of the structure makes significant saving in time and cost, compared with export docks. It also facilitates loading by the oil tankers needing extensive drafts.

Phases 6-8 at the South Pars gas field are being developed to produce 104 million cubic meters of dry and sour gases plus 158,000 barrels of condensates per day. The phases will also produce 1.6 million tons of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) per year for export purposes.

According to POGC officials, the phases will come on stream by the end of the current Iranian year, falling on March 20, 2007.