TEHRAN- Platform SPD-23, which is the third platform of the phases 22, 23, 24 of South Pars gas field (in the Persian Gulf) development project was loaded at Sadra yard in the southwestern province of Bushehr on Wednesday.

According to Ali Asghar Sadeqi, deputy director of the phases 22-24 development project, the 2500-ton platform is going to add 500 million cubic feet (14 million cubic meters) of gas to the field’s output and the total production capacity of the phases 22-24 will reach 1.5 billion cubic feet once SPD-23 is operational.

According to the offshore operations project manager Abdollah Mehrabi, the construction of phases 22-24 fourth (and last) platform is underway with a nearly 94 percent physical progress and the platform will be loaded to be installed on its offshore position in the near future.

Four platforms have been envisaged for the mentioned phases and the three other platforms are scheduled to be installed on their designated offshore spots during the current Iranian calendar year (which ends on March 20), according to the Public Relations Department of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), which is in charge of the gas field development.

Phases 22-24 are expected to produce 56 million cubic meters of sour gas, 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.

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.

EF/