Five South Pars phases to come on stream by March 2013

TEHRAN,Feb.25(MNA)--Phases 12, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the South Pars gas field will be operational by the end of the next calendar year (March 20, 2013), the Pars Oil and Gas Company’s Managing Director Mousa Souri told . The phases 17 and 18 will start early production in July and will be officially inaugurated by October, he added. On January 30, Souri said that the two phases are projected to produce 25 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. Phase 12 (equivalent to three phases), and the phases 15, 16, 17, and 18 development plans have progressed by around 60 percent, National Iranian Oil Company’s head Ahmad Qalebani told . Five billion dollars in bonds will be issued in the current Iranian calendar year to speed up the implementation of South Pars gas field projects. Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has ordered all the contractors of the South Pars gas field development projects to work round the clock in three shifts to complete the development of all phases, especially 12, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Iran has prioritized boosting gas production capacity from its joint oilfields with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Qasemi said. Iran sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia and is trying to grow its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its South Pars gas field. The South Pars gas field is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share, which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the world's reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.