TEHRAN- The first platform of Iran’s South Pars gas field’s phase 13 of development was installed on its designated offshore spot on Wednesday, Public Relations Department of Pars Oil and Gas Company, which is in charge of developing the gas field, announced.

Platform 13B and 13D of phase 13 had been loaded at Sadra Yard in Bushehr Province, southwest of Iran, in late October, but the operation for carrying the first platform toward the offshore spot was not conducted due to the bad weather, Payam Motamed, the operator of phase 13, said.

He put the production capacity of the 2,200-ton structure, platform 13B, at 14.2 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day and said production will begin in phase 13 when the two main platforms of this phase, namely platforms 13B and 13D, start operation, extracting 28.4 mcm of gas per day.

Phase 13 is aimed at production of 56 mcm of gas, 75,000 barrels of gas condensate and 400 tons of sulfur per day in addition to one million tons of ethane and one million tons of propane and butane per annum.

South Pars is divided into 24 standard phases of development in the first stage. Most of the phases are fully operational at the moment.

The huge offshore field, shared with Qatar, covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which, called South Pars, are in Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, called North Dome, are situated in Qatar’s territorial waters.

The field is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight percent of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.

MA/MA