South Pars gas production increases

The gas field’s output is going to increase even more in the current Iranian year, Hashemzadeh-Farhang told IRNA.

According to the official, six years ago only five refineries were operational in the complex, while the number of active refineries reached 12 by the end of the past Iranian year.

He noted that SPGC accounts for nearly 74 percent of the country’s natural gas supply.

He further pointed to the significant increase in the giant South Pars gas field’s production capacity over the past six years and said the field’s output was about 280 million cubic meters (mcm) in the Iranian year of 1391 (ended March 2013), while the figure is going to reach 750 mcm by the end of the current Iranian year.

Gas supply to the rural areas has also improved with the development of South Pars, he said, adding: “The rural population enjoying the natural gas supply in the Iranian year of 1392 was 14,000 villages and now the figure has exceeded 30,000 villages and by the end of the current year national gas network will cover more than 32,000 villages.”

Gas exports have also increased by 90 percent with the increase of the South Pars gas production, Iran currently exports an average of about 80 mcm of gas per day, the official stressed.

South Pars Gas Company is operating 12 gas refineries in southern Iran that are currently processing the gas extracted from the country’s giant South Pars gas field which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf.

The 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, currently divided into 24 standard phases in the Iranian side, 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.

All the offshore operations of the development project of the field, except for Phase 11, were completed in the past Iranian year (ended March 19).