Petropars, an affiliate of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), plans to start drilling operations at South Pars phase 11 (SP11) by late June 2020. SP11 is expected to have a production capacity of 2 bcf/d (over 56 mcm/d or 400,000 boe/d) of gas as of 2021.
In July 2017, a consortium led by Total and CNPC signed a contract with NIOC for the development of SP11, which was expected to be operated by Total (50.1%), in partnership with Petropars (19.9%), and Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC (30%). In July 2018, Total pulled out of the contract, after failing to secure a special project waiver from the US authorities, which had reinstated sanctions against Iran. CNPC took over Total’s participation in November 2018. In October 2019, CNPC renounced to participate in the development of SP11.
According to the Pars Oil and Gas Company, Iran’s South Pars field produced more than 700 mcm/d over the year 2019-2020 (21 March 2019-20 March 2020). The South Pars / North Dome gas field is the largest in the world and is shared between Iran and Qatar. Its development on the Iranian side is divided into about 24 phases in the first stage, 23 of which are active now. Phases 1-10 are intended for domestic consumption and injection into Iranian oil fields, while gas from the other phases should be exported.