Iran shifts South Pars development strategy
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has issued orders for the development of the South Pars gas field on the first day of his work. Zanganeh, who has visited South Pars, said that the priority will be placed on completing the development of the phases 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18. In March 2009, Ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the incomplete Phases 9 and 10. So far, $46 billion has been invested in phases 11-24 of the gas field, but no single phase has come on stream yet. This is while that the total investment in Phases 11 to 24 of South Pars, a giant joint gas field with Qatar which holds around half of Iran's total gas reserves, had been estimated to be less than $40 billion. The five phases, which have been prioritized by the Iranian oil minister, have been developed more than other phases. Development plan of the Phase 12 started 61 months ago and has progressed by 92 percent. Development plan of the phases 15 and 16 started 73 months ago and has progre