Petropars, an affiliate of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has brought to operation Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf, which is shared between Iran and Qatar. Phase 11 will start production at 15 mcm/d (5.5 bcm/year) and reach 56 mcm/year (20.4 bcm/year) at a later stage. In order to achieve this capacity, a total of 24 wells will be drilled. Presently, four wells are already operational, and the remaining will be gradually activated.
South Pars is estimated to hold 14,000 bcm of recoverable gas reserves. In 2017, Total (now TotalEnergies), signed an agreement with NIOC to develop Phase 11 of South Pars, which was expected to be operated by the French company (50.1%), in partnership with China’s CNPC(30%) and Petropars (19.9%). Total pulled out of the contract in 2018 after sanctions against Iran were reinstated and CNPC, which had took over Total’s stake in the field, in 2019.