Iran installs heaviest platform at Phase 11 of South Pars Gas Field, Persian Gulf

Iranian media reported that the operation was launched by the experts of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Tuesday evening and completed on Wednesday morning.

The 3,200-ton platform, the heaviest of its kind in the entire gas field, was successfully moved and installed as part of a “unique” operation by Iranian experts, Tasnim news agency reported.

The development will help start gas production at the “important and strategic” Phase 11 after two decades, it added.

The final goal of the development of the Phase 11 is to produce 56 million cube meters of gas per day.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said Phase 11 would become operational in the coming weeks during a ceremony to be joined by President Ebrahim Raisi.

He said Phase 11 is strategically important since it sits at the zero border point.

“With this work, we will also operationalize a joint gas field, [the production capacity of] which will start from 12 to 15 million cubic meters and will gradually reach 50 million cubic meters per day,” Owji said.

In May, Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji said $15 billion worth of oil and gas projects will be inaugurated in the country in the current Persian year (ends on March 20, 2024), including Phase 11 of the South Pars Gas Field, which would be put into operation within the next 2 to 3 months.

Iran has successfully been pushing to strengthen its oil and gas industry despite the draconian American sanctions designed to paralyze the country’s energy sector.