TEHRAN- Platform SPD-24B, which is the last platform of the phases 22, 23, 24 of developing South Pars gas field (in the Persian Gulf), has started transferring sour gas to onshore refineries, deputy operator of the phases’ development project told Shana.

According to Ali Asghar Sadeqi, this platform has added 500 million cubic feet (14.2 million cubic meters) of gas to the field’s output and with this last platform fully operational, the phases’ total output has reached the expected 56 million cubic meters.

The phases 22-24 are also going to produce 75,000 barrels of gas condensate, and 400 tons of sulfur per day, in addition to 50 million cubic meters of methane, 2,900 tons of LPG and 2,750 tons of ethane.

Sadeqi pointed out that the refineries of phases 22-24 are now receiving sour gas from four production platforms through two 32-inch pipelines connected to the main platforms. 

The refineries, currently, have the capacity of processing 50 million cubic meters of gas, 75,000 barrels of condensate, 400 tons of sulfur and one million tons of ethane and one million tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) annually.

Platform SPD-24B was loaded at Sadra yard in the southwestern province of Bushehr in early October 2019 and its installation operations were completed in early February. 

South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which, called South Pars, are in Iran’s territorial waters. 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.

In mid-September last year, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), which is in charge of developing the gas filed, had announced that all the remaining platforms of the field will be installed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2020).

Speaking to the state TV, Mohammad Meshkinfam had said “By the end of this year, the five remaining South Pars platforms at Sadra industrial yard will be installed [on their designated offshore spots] and recovery from all South Pars gas blocks (except for phase 11) will be realized.”

The development of South Pars Field started 22 years ago and 29 different phases were defined for the project along with a separate oil block.

EF/MA