jointly owned field was a source of pride for the Iranian petroleum ministry.
"The Ministry of Petroleum has clear plans for the future," he said.
Zangeneh referred to the newly developed oil contractual frameworks, saying: "For the future of oil and gas the issue of oil contracts must be pursued. Fortunately, we have reached a national consensus on this issue. These contractors could create up to 100,000 active jobs just as Assaluyeh became the source of honor and dignity for Iran and Iranians."
The minister said the new oil contracts, known as IPC, would help launch hundreds of factories and manufacturing units.
"Furthermore, these contracts can help complete recovery from joint fields and prevent any waste of the Iranian nation's oil to be trapped underground and become unrecoverable," he added.
"By relying on feedstock produced in the country, Iran can become the top petrochemical power in the region," said Zangeneh.
$190b Revenue in South Pars
Ali Kardor, CEO of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said at the ceremony that Iran had so far extracted 1,060 bcm of gas from South Pars while Qatar, which shares the field with Iran, had brought its total production to 1,771 bcm.
He said that Iran's revenue from South Pars totaled $191 billion, adding: "With the inauguration of development projects today and the continuation of this path we hope to be able to narrow the distance between Iran and Qatar."
Kardor referred to the drilling of wells by Qatar in border areas, saying: "Due to the well depletion area, nothing will happen to gas migration. In case we have good pace, we will be able to regain our share from this field."
He said that Iran's gas production at South Pars hit a record in 2016 with an output of 155 bcm.
$71bn Investment
Kardor said $71 billion had been invested in the offshore and onshore sections of South Pars (except for pipelines), adding: "Of this amount of investment, $19bn has been provided from domestic sources and $52bn from other sources like National Development Fund of Iran, banks, bonds, etc."
"The investment made in this sector will return shortly ; therefore, even if we have got any loans the return of investment will be possible shortly provided that the necessary economic models are provided," he added.
Kardor said upcoming projects in South Pars would be handled at more than 70% by domestic manpower.
South Pars Oil Layer Launched
With the inauguration of the six development phases of South Pars, sour gas production from this supergiant reservoir will increase by 170 mcm/d, while another 150 mcm/d of sweet gas will be injected to the national trunkline.
President Rouhani also launched production from the oil layer of South Pars. Tentative production from this oil layer had started in March and it has now reached 25,000 b/d, which is forecast to reach 35,000 b/d soon.
Furthermore, a floating production, offloading and storage (FPSO) unit was launched. The reason for using an FPSO is that construction of a refinery to process 35,000 b/d of oil is not economical. Furthermore, the crude oil extracted from the oil layer of South Pars is heavy.
Mohsen Paknejad, deputy managing director of NIOC for production, said extraction from the oil layer of South Pars was a dream that has come true now.
"In the first section which includes construction, installation and operation of wellhead platform, superstructures and substructures; each structure weighs 2,200 tonnes," he said.
"The second section includes drilling seven horizontal wells, three of which have two shafts and four are single-shaft," he added. "For the first time, we are witnessing single-shaft horizontal drilling in the oil layer of South Pars at a depth of 3,500 meters."
"Moreover, for the first time in the Middle East, designing, building and operating a processing vessel has been done with a capacity of 35,000 b/d," he said.
Paknejad said the structures used in the FPOS weighed 10,000 tonnes in total, adding: "If the FSPO weight is included, 25,000 tonnes of structure have been used."
Export from Oil Layer
Paknejad said the crude oil storage capacity of the FPSO stood at 700,000 barrels. "Over last month that the trial run of the oil layer of South Pars has begun, some 550,000 barrels of crude oil have been prepared to be exported from this layer," he added.
The oil layer of South Pars is mainly composed of carbonated reservoirs. It is estimated to hold between 1.5 billion and 4 billion barrels of oil in three formations. The API gravity of oil contained in this layer is estimated at 21 degrees.
The second phase of development of the oil layer will be awarded under an IPC contract. Iran is already in talks with foreign companies for the development of this layer.
Gholam-Reza Manouchehri, deputy managing director of NIOC for development and engineering, said: "It is predicted that we need $5 billion of investment for the second phase development of this project."
He said that the heavy crude oil contained in the oil layer required sophisticated technology for extraction.
"At present we don't have horizontal drilling technology for thin oil layers and we are also mulling recovering 100,000 to 145,000 b/d of oil from the oil layer of south Pars. Therefore, we need very new technologies to develop the oil layers," said Manouchehri.
He also said that development of the oil layer of South Pars was a 20-year project that needed regular drilling of wells.