Iran Signs Contract For Joint Gas Field With Qatar
Iranian state company Petropars has been awarded a contract to build a large platform to be installed in the Belal gas field in the Persian Gulf near the maritime border with Qatar.
At a ceremony on Sunday, the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) won the contract to build the drilling rig.
According to a report from the Iranian Oil Ministry, IOEC is to build a 4-story platform with a lifting capacity of 2,300 tons within the next 32 months.
The report said that the Iranian Marine Industrial Company, the largest shipyard in the country, also received an order to manufacture hulls for a large platform.
The Belal gas field is located near South Pars, the largest gas field in the world, located in the Persian Gulf between Iran and Qatar.
Iran aims to produce 500 million cubic feet (14.15 million cubic meters) of gas per day and 15,000 barrels of condensate from eight wells in Belal after installing a platform in the field.
Petropars started exploration drilling at Belal in June 2022 and finally went on gas in January of this year. The company, which is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the West Asia region, won the contract to develop Belal in 2019.
Negotiations are also underway between Petropars and IOEC to build a 150 km pipeline to transport sour gas from Belal to Iran’s onshore refineries.
The Iranian Oil Ministry has awarded various contracts to local companies to develop oil and gas fields since 2018, when foreign firms withdrew from oil projects in the country due to US sanctions.
Petropas, which is also known by its official name Pars Oil and Gas Company, plans to start gas production in Phase 11 of South Pars after it successfully installed a large platform in the field last month.
