TEHRAN – Gas production in Iran’s giant South Pars gas field is planned to increase by 36 million cubic meters (mcm) by drilling 35 new wells in the field, an official with Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) which is in charge of developing the field said.

Director of South Pars gas field drilling projects Hamidreza Shafie Mokvand said the mentioned wells are going to be drilled to increase the recovery factor of the field, Shana reported.

Emphasizing that the South Pars gas field is the largest joint gas field in the world, Mokvand added: “All oil and gas fields in the world face pressure drop and production reduction after several years of production and operation.”

In the coming years, the South Pars field will also experience a decrease in production, and drilling in different places that have a high capacity for gas extraction can prevent this decrease in production, he added.

According to the official, POGC has defined the drilling plan of 35 in-field wells in different phases of this reservoir following the investigation, studies and research conducted to prevent the reduction of gas production in South Pars.

Each well will produce approximately one million cubic meters of gas per day and these wells are no different from the previous wells drilled in South Pars, he explained.

Pointing out that the drilling of the mentioned wells will be done on 17 existing platforms, he said: “This project has been assigned to four Iranian drilling companies in the form of four project packages.”

According to Mokvand, Petropars Company will drill eight wells, Petro Iran Company will conduct nine wells, North Drilling Group is going to drill nine wells and Pasargad Energy Development Company will drill nine wells.

He put the investment made in this project at $1.2 million, noting that the value of the project is very significant for the country.

South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, 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. The field is divided into 24 standard phases.

The huge offshore field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which 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.

EF/MA