Phase 19, Symbol of Iranian Contractors
Following the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum's decision to prioritize development phases of South Pars gas field, development of Phase 19 of this field hit the agenda after phases 12, 15&16 and 17&18 of the giant reservoir were developed. Production from this phase started in March 2016. Once fully operational, this phase will be producing 56 mcm/d of sour gas. According to official data, since the start of sour gas recovery from phase 19 of South Pars, $1 billion in revenue has been generated for the country.
The meaningful relationship between South Pars and development of economic, social and political infrastructure in the country is no secret to anyone. Regarding the significance of its quick development it would be enough to know that according to estimates, Iran's South Pars gas deposits are valued currently at $4,400 billion. Iran is earning less than $25 billion in revenue from crude oil exports.
Prioritization and SP19 Development
Politicization of South Pars affairs and incomplete implementation of defined plans for various reasons including financial shortcomings, sanctions-related restrictions and crisis mismanagement under the previous administration delayed the implementation of Phase 19 of South Pars by 70 months after the expiry of contract. Ministry of Petroleum in the 11th administration prioritized this project and allocated financial resources to it so that Phase 19 could come on-stream.
Initially, the project was supposed to come online 35 months after its agreement was signed in June 2010. The EPC project was assigned to a consortium of Petropars Limited and Petropars Iran for offshore installations and drilling operations, and IOEC for constructing offshore platforms and laying subsea pipelines. The project was valued at $4.8 billion and led by Petropars.
First Recovery
In June 2015, i.e. five years after the official expiry of the contract, drilling operations at this phase ended. It was March 2016 that Phase 19 started production thanks to the 11th administration's support for this development project. A few months later, the first and the fourth trains of sweetening at this refinery became operational with a capacity of 1 bcf/d via SPD2 and 19C platforms. In September, the third and the fourth trains of the refinery of Phase 19 came on-stream.
A major difference between Phase 19 and other phases of South Pars is that unlike other phases, Phase 19 was the first South Pars phase whose development was pursued without dependence on the gas of other phases. The offshore and onshore sections of this phase were both developed together.
Domestic Companies' Share
According to plans, nearly all activities related to construction at Phase 19, particularly installation of equipment, were done by Iranian contractors. Purchase of equipment and materials were largely supplied by Iranian manufacturers and through domestic resources so that the objective of maximization of domestic manufacturing of projects would be met.
28,000km Excavation/Earthfill
For the construction of Phase 19 of South Pars, more than 14 mcm of excavation and earthfill has been carried out on 216 ha of land in Tonbak region, which is 20 kilometers east of Kangan city in the southern Iranian province of Bushehr. In order to make it easier to understand, we had better say that we would need 2.8 million 10-ton trucks to be able to move this amount of soil. Now imagine that this volume of soil will be sprawled on a length of 28,000 kilometers.
Cement Pouring
More than 4,000 cubic meters of cement has been poured for the construction of this refinery. According to official data, the construction of Milad Tower in Tehran needed around 21,000 cubic meters of concrete. That means that the amount of cement used in Phase 19 of South Pars was nearly 20 times higher than in Milad Tower.
11,000 Jobs
So far, more than 127 million person-hours have been spent in the onshore section of Phase 19 of South Pars gas field. More than 11,000 people have been hired in development activities there. At peak, 12,000 were working.
Iranian Contractors Strengthened
Given the fact that Petropars, IOEC and Petropars Iran have joined international bids for this project, considerable amount of hard currency has been saved. The familiarity of Petropars and IOEC with such projects and their maximum use of domestic resources will break the monopoly of big oil companies in gas projects of South Pars zone. It is a big achievement of this project which has also enhanced the country's production capacity.
Geographical Position
Phase 19 is located in the western section of South Pars reservoir and its onshore installations are in Tonbak. This phase which measures 218 ha is situated between the refineries of phases 11 and 12 and lies in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ).
Phase 19 has a capacity equivalent to two standard phases. In this phase, around 56 mcm/d of blended sour gas, gas condensate, water and other impurities is produced from offshore installations before being refined to achieve consumable products.