Iran Has More Rigs Than Qatar in South Pars Gas Field

Iran has overtaken Qatar in terms of number of rigs operating in the South Pars natural gas field, Mehr News Agency reported citing senior industry official.

“Despite sanctions, Iran’s platforms in South Pars have exceeded Qatar for the first time.” The official said.

 According to the timetable, it is expected that by the end of March, the number of platforms at South Pars will reach 20, making it to 28 by the next Iranian year.

Iran’s South Pars, which is part of a larger gas field shared with Qatar, is divided into 24 phases and holds about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.

Iran is currently producing 300 million cubic meters per day of gas from South Pars and has been trying to enhance its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments. 

The South Pars gas field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, i.e. North Dome, are in Qatar's territorial waters.