TEHRAN June 06(Shana)--Phases 15&16 of the massive offshore South Pars gas field are close to starting production, a top official at Khatam al-Anbia Construction HQ said.

Hassan Dargahi said the phases are 99% ready and that they would become operational in two weeks.
Khatam al-Anbia, the engineering arm of Iran�s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, won the tender bid for these two phases in 2005, said Dargahi.

He said that the first desalting train of the refinery was launched in 2013.
Production from Phases 15&16 of the offshore South Pars, jointly operated by Iran and Qatar, is forecast to reach 1.7 bcf/d in a month.

Phases 15&16 development of South Pars is aimed at producing 56.6 mcm/d of natural gas, 75,000 b/d of gas condensate, 400 tons a day of sulfur, 1.05 million tons a year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and one million tons of ethane for feeding petrochemical plants.
A consortium comprising Iranian companies is in charge of offshore and onshore development of Phases 15&16 of South Pars.

South Pars is currently supplying 300 mcm/d of gas, which equals 72% of Iran�s total gas consumption. Nearly 100 mcm/d is projected to be added to South Pars gas production capacity while all 29 phases are expected to have been developed in three years.

By SHANA