TEHRAN – The capacity of Iran’s daily natural gas production exceeded 1,000 million cubic meters (mcm) in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), a report published by the Oil Ministry’s Planning Directorate showed.

According to the ministry, the country's natural gas production capacity registered the mentioned record for the first time in the previous year when gas production from the South Pars gas field increased by more than four percent compared to the preceding year (1399).

As Shana reported, the development of the South Pars field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, has been completed except for phase 11 whose development is underway.

According to the report, the physical progress of the South Pars Phase 11 development project at the end of 1400 was more than 34 percent.

The average production of gas from the South Pars gas field has been increasing significantly in recent years and last December the figure reached a record of 705 mcm per day.

As one of the world’s biggest gas reserves, the South Pars gas field 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, about eight percent of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate. The field is divided into 24 standard phases.

South Pars is divided into 24 standard phases of development in the first stage. All of the phases except for phase 11 are fully operational at the moment.

Iran has reached complete self-sufficiency in all aspects of gas production from the South Pars field, including drilling, platform building, pipeline construction, and onshore refineries.

EF/