24-11-00 Iran has sealed contracts worth $ 7.5 bn to develop seven phases of the giant South Pars gas field in the Assaluyeh region in the southern province, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said. "In value, the contracts are tantamount to production of 200 mm cmpd of gas, 320,000 bpd of gas liquids and 3.2 to 4 mm tons of LNG per year for domestic use and exports," he told.
Asked on the probable oil price hike on the threshold of the winter season, he said he did not expect any price hike for the current Iranian calendar year (ending on March 20, 20001). Iran's crude prices stand below $ 29, he said, adding that Iran would earn 6 bn petro-dollars more than the forecast figure.
Last month, Zanganeh warned of a slump in oil prices during the second and third quarters of 2001 if OPEC carried on its current production. The surge in oil prices has earned Iran some $ 6 bn in surplus revenue over the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (starting on March 20). Zanganeh said the government would be in a position to earn an additional 10 bn petro-dollars by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.
In September, Iran offered two tenders to develop the latest phases of the South Pars gas field. The two tenders covered phases nine and 10, and 11 and 12, with a projected total daily output of 105 mm cm of gas and 160,000 barrels of crude oil.

The first three phases of South Pars have already started production, while Italy's ENI has won a contract to develop phases four and five estimated at $ 3.8 bn. Phases six to eight are in the hands of the British-registered Iranian company Petro-Pars.
Iran has been seeking to develop its huge gas reserves, the second largest in the world after Russia, to reduce dependence on its oil, its main source of revenue. In August, Iran made a major oil and gas find at two sites in the south of the country. Zireh gas site near Kangan in southern Iran holds an estimated reserves of 23 bn cm and Changuleh oil site, also in the south of the country, is saidto have more than 1 bn barrels in reserve.
In April, Zanganeh announced another major find in the same region, with reserves estimated at 400 bn cm. Iran is the second biggest oil producer in the OPEC, with an output of 3.7 mm bpd, of which 2.4 mm is exported. In July, the Italian firm ENI signed a major gas contract to develop the South Pars region in a project which is worth $ 3.8 bn, one of the biggest between Iran and a foreign company since the triumph in 1979 of the Islamic revolution.