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MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Iran kicks off SP11 drilling

IRAN IRANIAN Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh this The overall SP11 phase is expected to achieve
week gave the order for drilling to commence at production of 2 bcf (56 mcm) per day, with out-
phase 11 of the supergiant offshore South Pars put sent direct to dedicated gas refineries at the
gas field (SP11). Asalouyeh hub onshore southern Iran.
Drilling work will be carried out by the phase’s Petropars was left as the only remaining part-
main contractor Petropars using Mapna Drilling ner in the $4.879bn project, for which stakes
Co.’s MD-1 drilling rig, which was installed at the of 50.1% and 30% were awarded to French
SPD11B location in early November. super-major Total and China National Petro-
The 2,200-tonne unit will now begin a pro- leum Corp. (CNPC) respectively in July 2017.
gramme of drilling 12 appraisal and develop- The award was made for an integrated petroleum
ment wells as Petropars, a subsidiary of the contract (IPC) model, setting SP11’s production
National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), seeks to target at the time to 20.8 bcm per year.
achieve a daily production capacity of 1bn cubic The Chinese firm became the lead investor
feet (28mn cubic metres) per day of sour gas in SP11 after Total withdrew in August 2018,
from the project. citing the threat of it incurring US sanctions
The SPD11B wells will be drilled in two should it go ahead with plans. The French firm
stages. The first phase will comprise the drilling had intended to invest an initial $1bn, focusing
and completion of five appraisal or development on a section of the field near the South Pars Oil
wells and installation of the SPD11B platform, Layer, adjacent to areas of the field under Qatar’s
targeting an initial production level of 500mn control.
cubic feet (14 mcm) per day. The company’s stake was handed over to
Thereafter, a further seven development wells CNPC, with Petropars retaining the remaining
will be drilled and completed to increase gas 19.9%.
recovery from the platform to 28 mcm per day. In August last year, discussions between
However, on the sidelines of the ceremony CNPC and Tehran were reported by state media
to kick off drilling, NIOC official Reza Dehqan as still ongoing regarding SP11, following efforts
said that gas production would not begin until a month earlier by Zanganeh to clarify the Chi-
October 2021. nese firm’s intentions for the project.
Ultimate responsibility for SP11 lies with the Phase 11 will be the final phase of the
Pars Oil & Gas Co. (POGC), another subsidiary field to come into operation, though efforts
of NIOC, with Petropars carrying out jobs on the are still ongoing on other phases to ramp up
surface and subsurface. production.™

Week 50 16•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9