Azerbaijan , Baku, April 2 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
The gas production capacity from eight phases of South Pars gas field will amount to 220 million cubic meters per day, PANA reported quoting Iran's Oil Minister Seyed Massoud Mirkazemi as saying.
"Currently gas produced from the South Pars gas field is sweetened in eight phases that amounts 200 to 210 million cubic meters per day, part of it is being injected to the oil wells, another part is being consumed inside the country and the remaining part is being exported," Mirkazemi added.
According to Mirkazemi, construction of 29 standard phases have been planned for the gas field of which ten phases have been launched and the remaining phases would be coming on stream over the Fifth Five Year Development Plan up to 2016.
Mirkazemi said the ministry plans to invest about $90 billion in South Pars gas and oil projects in the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2011).
"$90 billion will be invested in the South Pars gas field's upstream and downstream projects of which $60 billion will be allocated to the upstream sector and the rest to the downstream sector," Mirkazemi said.
Since last June Iranian contractors have been committed to construct the phases in short timeframes and to complete them in 35 months, Mirkazemi noted.
Mirkazemi stressed that $10 billion have been pumped to petrochemical projects of the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ).
Some $7.5 billion had been allocated to the ongoing petrochemical projects in the region and based on the Ministry of Petroleum planning another $20 billion would be invested in development and construction of other petrochemical projects in the region, Mirkazemi added.
South Pars gas field which is located in the Persian Gulf is the world's largest gas field shared by Iran and Qatar.
According to the International Energy Agency, the field holds an estimated 50.97 trillion cubic meters (1800 trillion cubic feet) of in-situ gas and some 50 billion barrels of condensates.
Iran ranks third in the world in oil reserves and second in gas reserves.