Iran's Gas Production from South Pars to Match Qatar's by Next Spring

The CEO of the Pars Oil and Gas Company states that $6.4 billion in investment is planned for this year in South Pars, with the goal of matching Iran's gas production to Qatar's in the shared South Pars field. According to Mehr News Agency, Ali Akbar Shabanpour said in a press conference on Tuesday, September 2, that next year, gas production from Iran and Qatar in South Pars will equalize. He mentioned that last year, an investment of $8.7 billion was planned for South Pars, but only $4.2 billion was realized. However, Shabanpour emphasized that there will be no financial resource shortages for the development of this shared gas field this year. He stated that a total of $55 billion has been invested to complete the comprehensive development of South Pars, and with an additional $11 billion investment, the development of this shared gas field will be concluded. Iran started developing the South Pars field a decade later than its Qatari partner, and by the end of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first presidential term, only ten out of 24 phases of South Pars, with a production capacity of 250 million cubic meters per day, had been inaugurated. No phases were inaugurated during Ahmadinejad's second presidential term. Shabanpour noted that over the past three years, phases 15, 16, 17, and 12 of South Pars have been operational, and it is expected that by the end of this year, five new phases of South Pars, including phases 18, 19, 20, and 21, will also begin gas production. He had previously predicted that by the end of this year, approximately 100 million cubic meters would be added to gas production from South Pars, reaching 530 million cubic meters by June of next year. 'In this case, gas production from Iran and Qatar in this shared field will equalize, and by 2020, Iran's production from this field will increase to over 800 million cubic meters per day.' According to the Ministry of Oil's ten-year plan (horizon 1404), Iran plans to invest a total of $310 billion in gas projects, including field development, gas storage, processing, new pipelines, and distribution. Iran aims to increase its gas production in the coming years to over one billion cubic meters per day, of which 200 million cubic meters is designated for export. According to OPEC reports, Iran imported over 24 million cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan last year and exported about 23 million cubic meters per day to Turkey. However, this year's statistics from Turkey and Iran indicate that Tehran has increased gas exports to Turkey by 9%. Iran has signed contracts with Oman, Iraq, and Pakistan for daily gas exports of 100 million cubic meters in the coming years. Iran also has a liquefied natural gas complex (Iran LNG project) that was 50% complete before sanctions. After the sanctions were lifted, the country has prioritized the development and completion of this project. This complex will convert nearly 40 million cubic meters of gas into liquefied gas daily, with the final product planned for export to Europe and Asia. Iran holds the largest gas reserves in the world, with 34 trillion cubic meters. In this context, Iran's plan to expand the daily production capacity of South Pars refinery to '526 million cubic meters' involves a $14 billion investment. Zangeneh: Doubling gas consumption over four years. The Iranian gas industry has reached 50 years of age.