TEHRAN - The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed four contracts with domestic companies to drill 35 infill wells in the South Pars gas field, the NIOC managing director said on Monday.

According to Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, the mentioned contracts, worth $1.17 billion, are aimed at enhancing productivity and maintaining gas production in this giant field that Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf.

Supervised by the Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), the projects will be carried out within three years, the NIOC head said.

The megaprojects will not only help develop the country’s gas industry and economy but also create job opportunities and promote domestic capabilities, the deputy oil minister underlined.

According to the official, similar contracts will be awarded to qualified Iranian companies in the near future.

Earlier, the POGC managing director said Iran’s gas production capacity in the South Pars field will exceed 730 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) in the upcoming winter.

In an exclusive interview with Shana, POGC head Mohammad Hossein Motejalli added a 30 mcm/d increase in winter output of the world’s largest joint gas field has been planned through putting several wells of Phase 11 and Platform 13A as well as a new pipeline of Phase 16 into operation.

Shared by Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, the South Pars gas field holds 50 percent of Iran’s gas reserves and accounts for 70 percent of the country’s gas supply.

EF/MA