Iran to invest in South Pars gas field

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TEHRAN, April 9 (UPI) -- A $182 million investment in the South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf could increase production 20 percent, an Iranian project director said.

Mousa Souri, managing director for the Pas Oil and Gas Co., told the Iranian Oil Ministry's official Petroenergy Information Network that investing $182 million in phases 2 through 10 in the offshore natural gas deposit could raise production levels by March 2013.

Production in South Pars reached an average rate of 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas last year, he claimed. The South Pars field, more than half of it lies in Qatari waters, is one of the largest in the world.

Production of an oil layer present in the South Pars field is expected to be online by March 2013, Souri added. As much as 35,000 barrels of oil per day are expected during the first phase of project development.

Souri said two drilling rigs were to start operating in shared portions of the field this year. He added that his company was looking to rent a floating production, storage and offloading unit for operations in Iranian waters.