Iran to invest $13bn in South Pars

Iran plans to invest around $13 billion to develop the remaining phases of the giant South Pars gas field, says a senior Iranian oil official.

“13 billion dollars would be invested in (the South Pars gas) field’s projects by issuing bonds and using other resources in the current year,” Head of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) Ali Vakili told SHANA news agency on Monday.

He further pointed out that the Iranian Oil Ministry would also use oil revenues and foreign investments to finance the gas filed that is jointly owned by Iran and Qatar.

The Iranian share of the field has reserves of about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, which accounts for about eight percent of the total world gas reserves.

Vakili went on to say that the ministry has received the required permit from the Central Bank of Iran to issue bonds worth 3 billion euros and Iranian rial-dominated bonds worth around $3 billion to finance the project.

Last month, Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said that when all phases of the South Pars field become operational, the annual revenue of the field will soar to $100 billion, raising Iran’s gas output to 1.1 billion cubic meters per day.

Stressing the need for attracting foreign investment in the country’s oil industry, the minister said the oil ministry’s resources alone can not meet the country’s developmental needs, while adding that Iranian and foreign companies could finance energy projects or help acquire the required sources for the oil industry’s undertakings.

Known as the world’s largest gas field, South Pars holds an estimated 50.97 trillion cubic meters (1,800 trillion cubic feet) of in-situ gas and some 50 billion barrels of condensates.

The gas field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, of which 3,700 square kilometers (South Pars) is in Iranian territorial waters and 6,000 square kilometers (North Dome) is in Qatar’s territorial waters.