“As soon as hookup operations are over, the new platform will add 14 million cubic meters of gas per day to Phase 14 production that now is 42 mcm/d, raising the field’s production to 672 mcm/d,” IRNA quoted Mohammad Mehdi Tavasolipour as saying.
Production from the giant field now is 658 mcm/d -- up 7% compared to last October, Financial Tribune reported.
“The rig produces 100 tons of sulfur and 20,000 barrels of condensates a day,” he said, adding that it also processes 250,000 tons of liquefied gas and 250,000 tons of ethane per annum.
Deck 14D was loaded last week and transferred to the designated offshore spot. Weighing 2,400 tons, the structure is located 105 km off the Persian Gulf.
Iranian engineers carried out the designing and construction of the deck and local companies supplied 60% of the equipment.
Phase 14 has four decks (14A, 14B, 14C and 14D), of which three are operating.
Referring to the fourth and final deck of the phase, the official said the platform was constructed at SADRA yard in southern Bushehr Province.
Phase 14 onshore facilities, namely processing trains, sulfur recycling plants and gas injection units linked to Iran’s Gas Trunkline, are operational.
SP is divided into 24 phases in the first stage. Most of the phases are operational. The field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the strategic Persian Gulf, covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which (South Pars) are in Iran’s territorial waters. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers (North Dome) are in Qatar’s territorial waters.
The field is estimated to contain large deposits of natural gas, accounting for about 8% of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensates.
According to Mehdi Jamshidi Dana, dispatching director of the National Iranian Gas Company, total gas production capacity has reached 880 mcm/d, of which 650 mcm/d comes from South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf and the rest (230 mcm/d) is produced by the Iranian Central Oil Fields.
Compared to 2019, consumption in the household sector increased by 10% between Jan 1 and Jan 30 of this year to exceed 600 mcm/d.
A part of the upsurge is due to the recent snowfall and extreme weather in many regions. On Friday night the weather in Tehran was 2°C and most regions in the northern regions reported below zero temperatures.
Furthermore, the number of subscribers in rural areas has shot up as 3,000 towns have been linked to the national grid since March, 2019.
Normal gas consumption fluctuates between 450 to 500 mcm/d (when temperatures are between 3 to 8 degrees Celsius). “For every 1 degree Celsius drop in temperature, gas consumption rises by 25 mcm/d.”
Rise in consumption in the household sector has forced NIGC to reduce gas delivery to power stations and some of them have started to burn eco-unfriendly liquid fuels like mazut.
It is estimated that power plants’ use of mazut and diesel has reached 100 million liters per day.