Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 19 / Trend F.Milad/
The Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company will start loading jackets at the South Pars gas field phases 17 and 18 by end of December, the Shana news agency reported.
Three jackets, each 83 meters in height and 1,100 tons in weight, will be installed and loaded by the mentioned date.
Development of phases 15 to 18 of Iran's South Pars gas field, which were scheduled to be operational by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012), were postponed to the next year, oil minister Rostam Qasemi said.
Qasemi has ordered all the contractors of the South Pars gas field development projects to work round the clock in three shifts to complete development of all phases, especially phases 12, 15, 16, 17 and 18.
Iran has attached the priority on boosting gas production capacity from its joint oilfields with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Qasemi said, the IRNA news agency reported.
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 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 total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.
