Development

South pars Gas Field

Expansion of Iranian Contractors' Joint Cooperation

The most Important Measures Taken by Local Manufacturers

Economic Implications and provisions

The most Important Event Finalizing Development Projects

Major offshore Projects Implemented

Onshore Fields Development Projects

Fields Development Projects & Operation progress

The Effects of implementation of Development Projects

South Pars gas field is situated 100 km far from port city of Assaluyeh in the Persian Gulf, which has experienced significant developments and the development projects of this field are being completed and operationally commissioned.
In 2003, and in line with completion and commissioning of development projects of different phases of south pars gas field, vast operation has been implemented, chief among them are as following:
 

Installation and commissioning a 32" pipeline

Construction and installation of an 18" pipeline

Preparation of 9 wells for production

Commencement of producing gas, gas condensate and sulfur in phase 1

Completion of drilling operation of 20 wells in phases 2 & 3

Installation of a 91 km offshore pipeline in phase 5 and a 30 km offshore pipeline in

phase 4

Installation of a 15 km onshore pipeline

Construction of a 32" submarine pipeline, 300km

Construction and delivery of 372 residential units

Continuation of supplementary operation of phases 1, 4 and 5, one of them came into

 operation in late 2004.

Production Rate

Phase 1

phase 2 & 3

Rich natural gas

1076 mcm

19829 mcm

Lean natural gas

731 mcm

18086 mcm

Gas condensates

867000 bl

29826000 bl

With respect to necessity of conceding some percentage of contracts to local contractors and manufacturers by foreign contractors, a considerable number of projects of development phases 1, 2 and 3 of this field were implemented by local contractors and manufacturers as following:

Construction of the piles of platforms

Upper structures of platforms

Construction of concrete coating and installation of marine pipelines

Construction of a sub-marine pipeline with 210 km length and their concrete coating

through establishment of a special factory

The last and most important measure taken by local manufacturers was converting Iranian ship, Abouzar 1200, to pipe laying barge which, for the first time, was used for piping and installation of sub-marine pipeline of South Pars field, development phase 1.
On the other hand, technology transfer and getting experience resulted from implementation of projects, has led the country to achieve self-sufficiency in offshore projects. Right now gas transfer in the form of three phases from sea to shore and unmanned remote control platforms is performed.

In addition to creating considerable job opportunities, development of South pars common reservoir will be an effective step toward increasing the country revenue. Based on the estimations made, with respect to the determined prices, it is expected that through completion of phases 1 to 10, annually around $7 billion will be added to the country revenue of which $2 billion belongs to phases 1, 2 and 3. Meanwhile, assuming that natural gas is substituted with other oil products and fuels, the country revenue level from phases 1 to 10 will amount to $13 billion.
So far, the contract for 10 phases of this field has been concluded and tender for phases 11 to 16 in being launched.

The operational progress rate of development phases of this field by early 2004 has been shown in the following table:

Phase 1

Phase 4&5

Phase 6,7&8

Phase 9&10

One of the most considerable events in 2003-2004 was finalizing the contract for development of huge Azadegan oil field. After a lot of backwards and forwards, development of the southern part of this field was awarded to "Inpex" of Japan and "NIOC" of Iran.
Chief among the other major agreements signed in 2003-2004 is concluding a contract for gathering and transfer of associated gases.

In the year 2003, in addition to drilling 12 new wells and work over 23 wells, the following projects were also implemented:

3D seismic operation in Abouzar, Resalat, Reshadat and Siri "C" & "D"

Installation and commissioning Abouzar submarine pipeline

Settlement of energy management system on Salman platform

Overhaul maintenance of storage tanks No. 8 in Lavan and No. 6 in Kharg

Renovation of Siri oil jetty

Construction of Nakhiloo port jetty, phase 1

Construction and installation of a water desalination unit with capacity of 1200 cm in

Lavan

In 2003, in line with development of oil fields and enhancement of hydrocarbon recovery, NIOC has made the subsidiary companies implement numerous plans and projects, chief among them are:

Gas injection into crude oil reservoirs

Project for development of "Khami" or "Bangestan" gas layers in a few reservoirs such as

"Marun Khami" , "Paaznan Khami" , "Karun Bangestan" and "Bibi Hakime Khami"

Establishment of natural gas liquids(NGL) plants

Project for gathering associated gases in "Bangestan Layer of"Ab Teymour" , "Mansouri"

"Marun" , "Ahwas" and "Kupal" (Amak Project)

Development of "Cheshmeh Khosh" oil field and 16 other oil fields

Exploration and development of "Tabnak" gas field

Development of "Homa" , "Shanul" , "Varavi" , "Tange Bijar" and "Kamankooh" gas fields

Comprehensive projects for reservoir simulation model studies of oil and gas reservoirs

Underground gas storage in "Sarajeh" gas field

Establishment of desalting units in western Iran and National Iranian Southern Oil 

Fields Company(NISOC)

In order to enhance production capacity and recovery rate from oil and gas projects, NIOC has implemented numerous projects since 1997. Their progress rate is shown as following:

The project for development of Soroush and Norouz fields-96%

The project for development of Balal field-99%

The project for development of Doroud oil field-78.6%

The project for development of Hengam oil field-22.74%

The project for development of gathering associated gases (Amak)-93%

The project for development of Salman gas field-34.3%

The project for development of Darkhoweyn-phase 74.5%

The project for development of Forouzan Esfandyar fields-34.5%

The project for development of Masjid-Suleyman fields-10%

The project for development of Tabnak gas field-87.2%

The project for maintenance and production enhancement in southern oil fields-

85.2%

The project for injecting Aghajari gas into oil fields-46.2%

The project for establishment of crude oil strategic reservoirs-35.1%

The project for studying development of heavy and very heavy oil fields-Koohmond

74%, Zagheh 11.5% and Ferdows 100%

The project for development of gas fields: Shanul Varavi, Gordan and Tabnak 87.3%

In addition to realization of pre-determined and operational plans, implementation of development projects in NIOC, due to the determined features in implementing them has resulted to rather desirable implications. These implications can be seen in employment, human force training and advanced technology transfer arenas in oil operation.

Implementation of oil and gas development projects has had considerable effects on creating job opportunities, so that in 2003, over 380 thousand people started working in projects such as production enhancement, drilling operation, and oil and gas fields development.

Foreign contractors being bound to concede 30 to 50% of the lump sum of their contracts to local companies has led to technology transfer and projects management which has finally led the petroleum industry of the country to reach to self-reliance in marine sector.

One percent of the lump sum of all the contracts concluded and implemented in 2003, is allocated to human force training. The effect of this measure can be seen in promoting the level of technology and scientific capabilities of local human force active in the oil and gas arenas in the country.

Implementation of Development Projects in Oil Rich Regions and Islands

In order to develop and improve the oil rich regions and islands, NIOC has 162 projects under implementation whose credit amounts RLS 184 billion and by early 2004, 65 projects came into operation.
These projects are implemented in cultural and welfare, training and sports arenas, which has led to desirable effects in expanding welfare services in oil rich regions.