TEHRAN, June 11 (Shana) � Iran has finished drilling operations at phases 20 and 21 of the massive South Pars gas field in Persian Gulf waters.

Drilling operations in the phases have ended after three years and drilling 92,000 meters of 15 wells at the offshore phases.

The 15 wells are ready for gas recovery and 7 others are being completed.

Acceding to the public relations office of Oil Industries Engineering & Construction (OIEC), the remaining wells are undergoing preformation, acidizing and slug catching operations before they are ready for production by the end of summer.

Managing Director of OIEC Behzad Mohammad had previously predicted that the two phases will come on-stream by the end of the current Iranian calendar year to March 19.

Phases 20 and 21 of South Pars gas filed are being developed for production of 50mcm /d of processed natural gas for domestic consumption, a million tons a year of ethane for use by petrochemical plants, 1.05 million tons a year of high-quality liquefied gas for exports and 75,000 barrels a day of condensate.

South Pars, divided into 29 development phases, holds 40 tcm of natural gas, or 21% of world�s total gas reserves, and 50 billion barrels of condensate.

South Pars 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 are situated in Qatar�s territorial waters.

The gas field is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight percent of the world�s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.

By SHANA