Hunt for more reserves at South Pars

Tehran’s attention is turning to underexplored areas of the field

Iran has kicked off a new drilling campaign at its offshore South Pars gas field in the hope of identifying new reserves, just a few months ahead of the 24-phase field development project’s completion. State-owned Pars Oil & Gas Co. (POGC), a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), began drilling an appraisal well in the north of the field in late November. “This well is aimed at determining the extent of the expansion of the South Pars gas field in the north side of the field and evaluating the potential of uncharted areas of this section for development,” says POGC’s head of oil and gas engineering, Ali Akbar Majed. The current South Pars development includes 37 platforms ac