Pars Oil and Gas Company has announced that the drilling operation for the 14th phase of the South Pars gas field was launched recently.
The operating manager of the phase 14, Esmaeil Galledari, said that the drilling of the first well of the phase was scheduled to start, which is three months earlier than the previous planning, the official website of the Iranian Oil Ministry Shana stated.
The official noted that a total of 44 appraisal wells - used to assess characteristics of a proven hydrocarbon accumulation - will be drilled in this phase of the South Pars.
The South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf in the border zone between Iran and Qatar. It is the world's largest gas field. The field's reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of gas condensates.
The South Pars field covers an area of 3,700 square km. The process of developing gas production projects in the South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone is divided into 28 phases, which will officially come on stream in 35 months.
Mr Seyyed Pirouz Mousavi MD of Pars Special Economic Energy Zone was quoted by Tehran Times as saying that Iran will invest more than US$16 billion in South Pars gas field to develop its remaining phases.
Mr Mousavi added that daily production of more than 700mn cubic meters in the giant gas field is the goal of the ministry. The ministry plans to start early production of gas in phases 15, 16, 17 and 18 of South Pars field.
