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Iran's South Pars phase 14 refinery starts operations

Monday, 20 March 2023 12:25 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 20 March 2023 12:25 AM ]

Gisoo Misha Ahmadi

Press TV, Asalouyeh

A coast lined with refineries; flare stacks rising in a skyline studded with flames. This is Asalouyeh: the energy capital of Iran, home to 24 development phases of Iran’s mega gas project to exploit the immense South Pars-North Dome gas field: by far the world’s largest.

A pot of gold Iran shares with Qatar beneath the blue waters of the Persian Gulf and now with the phase 14 onshore refinery online, Iran has surpassed Qatar in gas production from this natural gas condensate field.

What makes this achievement even more special is that more than 70 percent of the project is homegrown, and carried out by Iranian engineers. This is a far cry from their initial 20 to 25 percent contribution back when the South Pars development project began with the assistance of Europeans more than three decades ago.

With the new refinery online, Iran’s production from South Pars has reached a staggering 241 billion cubic meters, surpassing Qatar.

South Pars-North Dome gas field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which belongs to Iran and has been divided into 24 standard development phases most of which have been completed and are fully operational.

It is estimated that the Iranian section of the field, referred to as South Pars in short, contains 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensates and with the completion of its onshore facilities, Iran only needs a few offshore installations in order to fully exploit its share.

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