Iran Opens Up South Pars Oil Layer Project to Foreign Firms

The Iranian government plans to offer the second phase of the South Pars oil layer development project to foreign companies, according to Ali Kardor, the country's deputy oil minister and head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). The first phase of the project is currently being worked on by Iranian companies, but they lack the necessary technology to develop the other phases.

Kardor stated that Iran aims to pump 35,000 barrels of crude oil per day in the first phase, with production expected to start by March 2017 once a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is installed. The FPSO unit is currently in the UAE and will be handed over to Iran upon completion of its equipment installation.

The South Pars gas field, which spans across both Iranian and Qatari territorial waters, contains an estimated 40 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and is divided into 24 development phases. Currently, Iran's gas production from the field stands at 430 million cubic meters per day.