The serious risk of gas pressure drop in South Pars/Qatar was dealt with earlier

According to Energy Press, as experts say, the pressure drop in the South Pars gas field will gradually enter a serious stage from 2026, and if the pressure increase project is not implemented by then, the gas extraction from this field will decrease, and the continuation of this trend will mean an increase in gas imbalance. became.
According to reports, currently more than 70% of the gas produced in the country is supplied from South Pars, and pressure drop is a serious risk for Iran. Since the South Pars gas field has entered the dew point since 2023 and is facing a pressure drop, for this reason, technical experts say that 20,000 ton pressure boosting platforms and strong compressors are needed to continue gas production. The South Pars field has been signed between the Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex (ISOICO) and Oil Industries Engineering and Construction Company (OVIC). This is despite the fact that earlier on March 20, 2023, the contracts related to the South Pars joint gas field pressure boosting project were signed with 4 contractors active in the development of the country’s oil and gas fields, including Petropars, Avik, Mapna and Khatam Al-Anbiya construction site, so that the whole project is divided into four parts. be divided and each part should be implemented by one of these main contractors.
According to the announcement of the Ministry of Oil, the implementation of the pressure increase plan in the South Pars reservoir requires an investment of 20 billion dollars, and the amount of gas extraction will increase to 90 trillion cubic feet and gas condensate to 2 billion barrels, which will generate about 900 billion dollars for the country.
Another new contract to increase pressure
In the new South Pars booster contract, which is the largest gas contract in the history of Iran, it is stipulated that 28 new platforms will be built and installed, half of which will be for the installation of booster turbocompressors. In fact, each platform can pressurize one billion cubic feet of gas.
Naft Ma writes in a report in this regard: The important point in this contract is that instead of the 20,000-ton platforms that were mentioned in the initial plan, 7,000-ton platforms are to be used, and according to the announcement of the National Oil Company, this method meets the pressure increase needs of South Pars and is appropriate. With the possibility of internal construction, the weight of the platforms has been reduced and their number has been increased, however, despite the notification of the Ministry of Oil about the beginning of the pressure drop in South Pars, according to the reports of this ministry and international reputable institutions, after Total’s withdrawal from the development of phase 11, which It was supposed to install pressure boosting platforms, no serious measures have been taken to control the pressure drop.
As this report emphasized, the main reason for the country’s gas production decline after the completion of the planned phases in South Pars is the natural pressure drop in the fields, the unbridled growth of domestic gas and electricity consumption, the subsidized prices of gas and electricity, the replacement of liquid fuels with natural gas, and the development of petrochemical complexes. and other energy-intensive industries.
It is clear that with the existing inaction and the continuation of the pressure drop, even the possibility of transferring gas from the platform to the onshore refinery will not be possible and it may even lead to the stoppage of the production of petrochemical complexes with methane feed in Assalouye.
Consequences of gas pressure drop
Gas outages in the cold months of the year and electricity outages in the summer have harmed the country’s industries, the continuous pressure drop and as a result falling behind the announced production plan, along with the lack of development of alternative sources of electricity generation, have caused 80% of the country’s electricity to come from gas power plants. In addition, Iran has now become a gas importer, and the continuation of pressure drop and gas production reduction can be a major cause of crisis and tension between the country’s provinces, such as water resources, in the near future.