MEOG: Launch nears at South Pars 11

Iran this week installed a 3,200-tonne production platform at the final phase of the South Pars gas field development project. According to recent comments by Oil Minister Javad Owji, production from Phase 11 is expected to commence by August, beginning at 15mn cubic metres per day and eventually rising to 50-57mcm per day.

Iranian media reported that the platform was installed and overseen by the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) and its subsidiaries Pars Oil and Gas Co. (POGC), Petropars and the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Co. (IOEC).

NIOC’s managing director Mohsen Khojastehmehr called the installation “unparalleled” in the history of the country’s oil industry in terms of execution and complexity. It is the heaviest platform to be used on the field.

He added that NIOC “put manufacture of platform jacket and second platform on the agenda to complete the development, and the Iranian companies, which signed the related contract, are currently building it.”

Meanwhile, Owji noted that Phase 11 would be inaugurated by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the coming months.

In early May, Khojastehmehr told the Ministry of Petroleum’s (MoP) Shana news agency that drilling operations for four Phase 11 wells had been completed and undersea pipelines installed.