South Pars Platform 17B Loaded Out
Iranian First Vice-President Es'haq Jahangiri and Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh travelled to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran to inaugurate several industrial projects. Simultaneously, Platform 17B, which is the last platform in the development of Phases 17&18 of South Pars, was loaded out.
The loadout operation was done by Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Co. (ISOICO).
Platform 17B weighs 2,300 tons and has the capacity to recover 500 mcf/d of gas. According to Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) officials, this platform is projected to become operational in March next year.
ISOICO is in charge of constructing platforms for Phases 17 and 18. Gholam-Reza Manouchehri, deputy head of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for development and engineering, told reporters after the loadout operation that the current year would be a unique one in terms of operating South Pars platforms.
"By the end of the [calendar] year (in March 2017), 6 platforms will become fully operational, which would add 100 mcm/d of gas and 160,000 b/d of gas condensate to the country's output," he said.
Referring to the platforms, he said: "Platform 19A with a capacity of 1 bcf recently started operation. The construction of Platform 19B is to be over in December and it will become operational by the end of the year."
"Platform 18B has already been installed and will become operational in November. Platform 17B was loaded out and will become operational by March," he said, adding: "Platform 21 has been installed to be launched in early winter and Platform 20 is ready for loadout and will come on-stream before the end of the year."
He gave a positive assessment of progress in the onshore section of phases 19, 20 & 21, saying: "The refinery section of Phases 17&18 has already become operational."
Manouchehri said Iran will be producing as much as Qatar from South Pars, which they own jointly, by the end of the current calendar year. He added that Phases 13, 14 and 22-24 are among projects on the agenda.
He said that Phase 11 will be developed within the framework of a new-style contract, adding: "For the first time in Phase 11, pressure fall-off prevention system will be used in order to protect the reservoir's production."
South Pars Oil Layer Production
Manouchehri referred to the development of the oil layer of South pars, saying it would start producing 30,000 b/d of oil by next March.
Noting that Qatar has drilled 300 wells for recovery from this oil layer, he said: "We should spud at least two-thirds of this number and manage to bring production from the oil layer to 200,000 b/d in the long run."
Manouchehri added that the second phase development of the oil layer is among priorities of the Ministry of Petroleum that would be done under a new-style oil contract.
"Currently, some companies are willing to develop the oil layer of South Pars in the second phase. Among them is the Danish firm Maersk which has the experience of activity in the Qatari section of this layer," he said.
Manouchehri highlighted complexities regarding gas pipelines and issues related to gas export via pipeline, saying liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports must be taken into consideration.
"Iran is currently in talks with Asian companies like those from South Korea and Japan and also European companies for investment in LNG, but none of these negotiations have been finalized," he said.
Output Hits 500 mcm/d
Mohammad Meshkin-Fam, managing director of POGC, said in the press conference that gas recovery from South Pars would reach 540 mcm/d by next March.
"Platform 17B is the last platform in phases 17&18, whose construction will take 31 months, excluding sanctions-related delays," he said.
He said that domestic manufacturing has had a 70% share in this platform, adding: "Only 30% of commodities whose manufacturing needed high technology and which we could not build in the country were purchased from abroad."
Asked by “Iran Petroleum” about how much Platform 17B has cost, he said: "Our contract with IOSCO for the construction and delivery of several platforms is valued at $570 million. Each platform will cost around $150 million. Since Platform 17B has a capacity of 500 mcf, will cost lower than other platforms whose capacity is 1 bcf."
"Given international norms about platform construction costs, building them inside the country even during years of sanctions was economical," he said.
Meshkin-Fam also said that development of South Pars, excluding Phase 11, would need $81 billion in investment. He broke down the figure as $67 billion for the development of phases, and $14 billion for insurance, tax and customs.
He said that around $26 billion was invested in the development of phases 1 to 10 of South Pars up to 2009.
Meshkin-Farm said Phase 11 was forecast to need $4 billion in investment after the installation of pressure booster systems.
He put at 17 the number of operating rigs in South Pars, adding that ISOCO officials have promised to launch Platform 17B in 45 days.
Meshkin-Fam said Phases 17 and 18 would be producing 34 mcm/d of gas and 40,000 b/d of condensate. "Based on the current prices, revenue from each phase of South Pars is $5 million a day, which would equal $2 billion for a year," he said.