South Pars Development
The South Pars Field was discovered in 1990 by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). The Pars Oil and Gas Company. a subsidiary of NIOC, has jurisdiction over all South Pars-related projects. Field development has been delayed by various problems - technical (i.e., high levels of mercaptans and foul-smelling sulfur compounds), contractual issues and, recently, politics.
Gas production started from the field by commissioning phase 2 in December 2002 to produce 1 billion cubic feet per day (28 million cubic metres per day) of wet gas. Gas is sent to shore via pipeline, and processed at Assaluyeh.
Condensate production from South Pars is currently 200,000 barrels per day (32,000 m3/d), and by 2010, could increase to over 500,000 barrels per day (79,000 m3/d). As of December 2010, South pars gas field's production capacity stands at 75 million cubic metres (2.6 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day. Gas production at South Pars rose by nearly 30% between March 2009 and March 2010. The field's reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic metres (490 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and 18 billion barrels (2.9 billion cubic metres) of natural gas condensates. Production at South Pars gas field will rise to 175 million cubic metres (6.2 billion cubic feet) per day in 2012.
NIOC is planning to develop the field in 24 to 30 phases, capable of producing about 25 billion cubic feet (710 million cubic metres) to 30 billion cubic feet (850 million cubic metres) of natural gas per day.
Each standard phase is defined for daily production of 1 billion cubic feet (28 million cubic metres) of natural gas, convert|40,000|oilbbl of condensate, 1500 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 200 tonnes of sulfur, however some phases have some different production plans.
Each of the phases is estimated to have an average capital spend of around US$1.5 billion, and most will be led by foreign oil firms working in partnership with local companies. Development of a South Pars phase by the Norwegian Statoil company has become infamous after extensive report of misconduct and bribery to the Horton Investments, an Iranian consultancy firm owned by Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, son of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Statoil committed to spending US $300 million to construct three production platforms and a pipeline. The government of Mr Ahmadinejad, who came to power in 2005, has favoured local firms over foreign companies in the energy and other sectors.
By the beginning of 2008 phases 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 has been brought to production and by the end of 2008 phases 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be on stream. Phases 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 27 and 28 are under different development stages.
Read more about this topic: South Pars / North Dome Gas-Condensate Field
Famous quotes containing the words south and/or development:
“We in the South were ready for reconciliation, to be accepted as equals, to rejoin the mainstream of American political life. This yearning for what might be called political redemption was a significant factor in my successful campaign.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“This was the Eastham famous of late years for its camp- meetings, held in a grove near by, to which thousands flock from all parts of the Bay. We conjectured that the reason for the perhaps unusual, if not unhealthful development of the religious sentiment here, was the fact that a large portion of the population are women whose husbands and sons are either abroad on the sea, or else drowned, and there is nobody but they and the ministers left behind.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)