3 South Pars Phases Join Gas Grid in August

EghtesadOnline: Natural gas from three new phases of South Pars Gas Field will start to flow into the national gas network by the end of next month, upon the completion of a refining facility for the three phases.

News ID: ۷۴۲۸۰۶

17 July 2017

"The refinery for South Pars phases 22, 23 and 24 has made 90% physical progress. It is expected to become operational in August after the installation of its utility units, including boilers and air systems," Farhad Izadjou, director of phases 22-24, said in a statement, the National Iranian Oil Company's news portal reported on Sunday.

The official did not provide details on the amount of supplies, but said output of the three phases will be injected into Iran Gas Trunkline 5 (IGAT-5). A standard phase of South Pars is designed to produce 56 million cubic meters per day of natural gas.

Iran uses natural gas for heating purposes and as feedstock for thermal power stations that constitute more than 80% of its installed electricity generating capacity. It also injects gas into underground reservoirs to increase crude oil recovery, according to Financial Tribune.

The government is taking measures to ensure gas supply stability in the cold season after the country temporarily descended into emergency mode, following an unexpected halt in Turkmen supplies late last year.

Iran currently pumps more than 800 million cubic meters of natural gas daily, but plans to increase output to 1 billion cubic meters a day by the end of the year as it presses ahead with new South Pars phases.

In fiscal 2016-17, gas production from South Pars increased to 520 million cubic meters per day, up more than 150 mcm/d compared with the previous year.

South Pars is the world's largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. It adjoins Qatar’s North Field, which measures 6,000 square kilometers.

Iran is developing the mega gas project in 24 phases. According to one report, the completion of South Pars project requires an expenditure of $20-30 billion.

Earlier this month, Iran signed a contract with French oil and gas major Total to develop Phase 11 of South Pars in collaboration with China's state-owned CNPC and Iran's government-controlled Petropars.