TEHRAN (Tasnim) An Iranian gas official announced that Tehran has allocated $10.37 billion to the implementation of pipeline projects for transferring natural gas from the country's giant South Pars gas field, south of Iran.
Head of the Investment Committee of Irans National Gas Company Asghar Soheilipour told reporters that thanks to the efforts made by the oil minister Iran's high council of economy accepted to consider the pipeline as part of the major comprehensive development plan defined for South Pars field.
The transfer projects are among the countrys high cost development projects, he said, adding, "A 100-kilometer transfer project, including compressor stations and a 56-inch pipeline will cost $4 billion."
Soheilipour, however, said the fund is sufficient for the gas transfer pipeline project until 2017, but the completion of other routes needs another $10bln.
The South Pars gas field, whose development has been divided into 28 phases, is located in the Persian Gulf straddling the maritime border between Iran and Qatar. It is estimated that the Iranian section of the field contains 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensates in place.
South Pars is part of a wider gas field that is shared with Qatar. The larger field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran's territorial waters (South Pars) in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, referred to as the North Dome, are in Qatar's territorial waters.