Iran says annual investment in South Pars gas field to hit $17 bln
Total investments in Iran's South Pars gas field located in the Persian Gulf will reach $17 billion in the current Iranian calendar year which ends on March 20, IRNA news agency quoted National Iranian Oil Company managing director Ahmad Qalebani as saying.
By the end of the year, phases 15 and 16 will be inaugurated, he added.
Qalebani noted that due to the provision of equipment and implementation problems, the South Pars development plans will take 40-48 months to be executed.
Iran is currently producing 300 mcm of gas per day from South Pars.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had said the gas field's production capacity would be doubled by September.
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in November that 775 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day could be extracted from South Pars after all its phases come on stream.
Iran has attached a priority on boosting gas production capacity from its joint fields with Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The country which sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, has been trying to enhance its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its South Pars gas field.
South Pars is part of a wider gas field that is shared with Qatar.