TEHRAN (PIN) -- The countdown has started in the Iranian oil industry for official commissioning of the first phase of the development of the world's largest gas field implemented for the first time by an Iranian contractor.
Amid clamors over the slow progress in the implementation of this phase of the South Pars development project and protests that the country might incur millions of dollars in losses for every day of delay in the inauguration of the development phase, only a few persons talked about the 70 percent share of Iranian companies engaged in carrying our the project.
The involvement of over 60 Iranian companies in carrying out various sections of the first phase as a project entrusted for the first time to an Iranian contractor reveals the key role the oil industry plays in developing the infrastructures of other industrial sectors.
The approximate weight of the jacket of the production platform along with its Engineer Rahim Tabrizi, the manager of the phase one of the South Pars development project in the Petropars Company maintains that the implementation of the project would pave the way for domestic oil companies to demonstrate their capability and strength. He says, "Before the implementation of the phase one project, the Iranian contractors were not capable enough to participate in oil projects but with the removal of shortcomings facing the Iranian contractors and companies engaged in manufacture of equipment and offering services needed by he oil industry, no shortage of equipment or lack of off-shore facilities are now felt.
With a big risk taken by Petropars Co. in ceding the implementation of various parts of the phase one project to domestic companies, though it was the first time for some of them to engage in activities on such a large scale, the presence of these firms in domestic and even international oil projects along with reputed international firms was not beyond expectation.
Implementation of the first phase of the development of the South Pars gas field with an aim of attracting and transferring technological know-how, managing infrastructural projects in the field of engineering, and logistics and augmenting the knowledge of Iranian contractors and craftsmen, was entrusted to the Petropars Co. in 1999.
Carrying out macro projects according to international standards, reducing executive expenses associated with the implementation of infrastructural projects in a tight competition with international oil majors, creating job opportunities though assignment of Iranian companies to manufacture needed equipment and components and making utmost use of domestic facilities for implementation of the project are among the major goals of this phase of the development project.
With the full commissioning of the phase one project, crude gas will be extracted from 12 wells each with an average depth of 3,670 meters located 105 kilometers from the Assaluyeh port on the Persian Gulf, and after being refined in off-shore installations will be carried to Assaluyeh port through a underwater 32-inch pipeline to Assaluyeh refinery.
By refining the crude gas obtained from off-shore wells, 35 million cubic meters of refined gas, 40,000 barrels of gas condensates and 200 tons of sulfur will be produced per day at the Assaluyeh refinery.
In implementing the off-shore part of the project, planning had been made and carried out within the framework of five projects for drilling 12 wells, construction and erection of oil platforms, a production platform, a residential platform and connecting bridges in the sea with an average depth of 60 and 70 meters and laying a total of 114 kilometers of underwater pipelines.
The on-shore installations of the phase one project include units for separation of gas and gas condensates, dehumidification, gas condensate stabilization, gas sweetening, removal of merchantman, regulation of gas dew point and condensation, desulphurization, treatment of surface, industrial and waste waters, telecommunication systems, buildings and other logistical equipment such fire fighting equipment. The operating base has been set up to be jointly used by phase 1, 2 and 3 of South Pars development project and meet the operational needs of the gas refinery as well as other on-shore and of-shore installations of the project. An
Iranian company has been involved in the implementation of the project.
It should be noted that the main on-shore units such as water, electricity and steam units as well as processing units such as desalination units and gas export network and its related installations had been set up and commissioned long before the inauguration of the refinery.
The income from the implementation of the phase one of the South Pars development project, based on replacing other oil derivatives with gas, has been estimated at 3.5 million dollars per day and according to the latest reports exploitation of the project can earn the country 1.5 million dollars per day.
Some experts have estimated that any delay in exploiting this phase of the development projects means inflicting 1.5 million dollars in loss on the country. Such comments prompted Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh to declare at a press conference that the phase one had approached its end. He said "Failing to exploit the phase one project will means failing to make an income of between 1.5-2 million dollars per day and this does not mean that this amount is subtracted from the public assets. No money is lost, rather with the commissioning of the project the same amount of money will be added to the country's revenues per day."
According to Engineer Zanganeh, the delay in exploiting the phase one of the South Pars development project had nothing to do with Petropars Co. as the contractor of the project. Rather, the new technology chosen for exploitation of the project has caused some problems.
In fact, making use of new gas sweetening technology and fundamental changes in the project design were declared as the main factors behind the delay in the executive trend of the phase one of the development of the South Pars gas field.
With the enforcement of fundamental changes in the project particularly in its merchantman removing unit (MRU), Engineer Manuchehri, the managing director of the Petropars Co. finally revealed that the first unit of the phase one project had started operation at full capacity on June 9, 2004.
At that time, the second unit was ready to start operation at 40 percent of its nominal capacity. But given the results from the production of the first unit, necessary changes were made in the second unit and for this reason its operation started on July 19, 2004.
The development of various industrial sectors of the country through participation in the first phase of South Pars development project, transfer of relevant technological know-how and lowering the costs of other phases of the project are among the most important achievements made by the implementation of this phase of the project.
Despite certain difficulties, it was the largest national project implemented in the country's oil industry. However, the acceleration of production by the neighboring country of Qatar from this joint gas reserve has added to the sensitivity of implementing other phases of development project as soon as possible.
The existence of huge reserves of gas condensates in the South Pars gas field, sharing of its ownership and its location in the shallow parts of the Persian Gulf which make it possible to exploit its reserves without using sophisticated technologies justify domestic and foreign investments in its development project.
© Tehran Times 2004
