The development project for Phase 12 of South Pars is designed to produce 3000 mmscf/d gas from the reserves. (Photo by Heidar Rezaei)

Sidestepping illegal US-led sanctions, Iranian contractors and engineers began the development project of a new refinery for Phase 12 of the giant South Pars gas field on Thursday in Pars 2 region of Kangan located in the Persian Gulf.
Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari, top energy industry officials, managers and directors of South Pars Oil and Gas Company, as well as local officials attended the ceremony.
After the ceremony, Nozari said at a press conference that the development project for Phase 12 is designed to produce 3000 mmscf/d gas from the reserves, adding that the entire project was designed and will be implemented by a consortium of Iranian firms.
On whether Iran would purchase foreign technology and products to develop the field, he said there is little tendency towards purchasing foreign products.
“The industry aims to reduce dependence on foreign expertise and products by carrying out its oil and gas development projects but welcomes foreign investment--although some of the energy giants are under pressure from Washington not to invest in Iran,“ he added.
Private investment in the energy sector was another question. In this respect Nozari said, “Isfahan Refinery has already sold five percent of its shares to the private sector and the aim is to cede more shares of the energy industry in the future.“

Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari smiles during a meeting with reporters in Kangan on Thursday.

He called on foreign firms to invest in Phase 12 adding, “European and Asian firms are willing to invest in upstream and downstream sectors. Talks are still underway and I am pretty much sure that they would soon be finalized.“
On whether illegal US-led sanctions could have an impact on gasoline imports and supply, he maintained that there is no such a thing as fuel shortage as many countries would like to sell fuel to Iran. “In case there are any restrictions, the industry can and will increase domestic fuel production.“
According to Nozari, development projects will soon begin for seven other phases. “Phases 15 and 17 have already been handed over to the contractors and phases 19 and 21 will soon follow suit, probably by early September.
“The ministry is also in talks with Turkey to develop Phase 22 and lay a transnational pipeline to export natural gas to Europe via Turkey. Negotiations have been fairly good thus far and the hope is that they could soon be finalized.“
He said that Iran will raise oil production by the end of Fourth Five-Year Development Plan (2010), adding that Iran’s oil export will be raised to 3.5 million barrels a day from the current 2.4 million barrels a day.
Also speaking at the press conference, Managing Director of Pars Oil and Gas Company Ali Vakili said that the development project for Phase 12 will help expedite industrial and economic development of Tonbak and Kangan regions, adding that the new refinery will be constructed by the NASR Consortium under an EPCI (engineering, procurement, construction and installation) contract worth $284 million.
He outlined the main objectives of the development of this phase as daily production of 78 mmcm/d natural gas to be injected into the sixth Iranian Gas Trunk Line or alternatively to be partly delivered as rich sour gas to the liquefaction units as well as daily production of 110,000 barrels of heavy condensate and 750 tons of granulated sulfur.
The offshore facilities of Phase 12 will be three standalone platforms each equipped with 12 wells for producing 1000 mmscf/d of gas; three-phase test operators for water separation; and oily water treatment unit for removal of pollutant oil before water is discharged to the sea among others.
He explained that the onshore facilities of the phase will include gas-condensate receiving and separation and condensates stabilization units; six 500 mmscf/d gas treatment trains; industrial waste water and sanitary water treatment; fuel gas system and refinery diesel; laboratory, warehouse, workshop and offices; and four tanks for condensate storage and export among others.
According to the Public Relations Office of Pars Oil and Gas Company, Petropars and the NASR Consortium are in charge of developing Phase 12. Each of its offshore platforms will produce about one billion cubic feet of natural gas, equal to the total of three phases already in operation.
Under the agreement, Iranian contractors will have to develop the phase within 34 months.

Finally, after one year of political turmoil, Lebanon on Friday formed a 30-member national unity government, seven weeks after an accord which saved the country from the brink of renewed civil war, Cabinet Secretary-General Suhayl Buji announced.
The lineup was named in a decree signed by President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, AFP reported.
The accord between Lebanon’s political rivals sealed in Doha on May 21 allocated 16 Cabinet seats to the western-backed parliamentary majority and 11 to the opposition led by the popular group of Hezbollah, giving it veto powers.
Friday’s announcement marks a strengthened return to the government of Hezbollah.
The new Cabinet follows a political crisis which lasted more than a year and a half since Hezbollah and its allies stepped down from government in November 2006, shortly after the Hezbollah-Israel war.
Parliamentary majority leader, Saad Hariri, said earlier that the breakthrough in weeks of efforts to form a new Cabinet followed a concession to the Shiite movement Hezbollah.
“I have asked Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to accept the nomination of Ali Kanso“ in the lineup, he said after meeting the premier, referring to a figure previously opposed by Hariri’s camp.
“We are making sacrifices in the interests of the country.“
The rivals have since been locked in political bickering over the distribution of key portfolios in the new government.
The nomination of Kanso, former head of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, was sought by Hezbollah. But the majority had rejected him because of SSNP involvement in the May clashes.

The nuclear accident response exercise conducted at the Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant in Mexico this week was a ’success’, the UN’s atomic watchdog said on Friday.
“The exercise was a success in that it demonstrated strengths but also the weak points in the international emergency response system,“ said International Atomic Energy Agency official, Rafael Martincic, who led the preparation and evaluation of the exercise.
“Only by identifying weaknesses can we improve the system’s response to large-scale radiological emergencies,“ he said in a statement.
The 38-hour emergency drill, which started Wednesday and involved 74 IAEA member-states and 10 international organizations, comprised a simulated accident that increased in severity as the exercise progressed, ultimately reaching Level 5 or “Accident with Wider Consequences“ on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES).
The INES scale ranges from the lowest level, Level 1, which is classified as an ’anomaly’ to Level 7, which is a “major accident“.
The IAEA insisted that the exercise was a ’virtual’ nuclear accident and did not pose any risk to the public or the environment.
Similar tests have been carried out in the past, notably at the
French Gravelines power plant in 2001 and at Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear power plant in May 2005.
The IAEA said it would now prepare and publish a report on the exercise.
“The focus now is on evaluating the Laguna Verde exercise, to review findings and identify lessons learned that will further improve the international nuclear emergency response system,“ it said.
In addition to the IAEA, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization , the World Meteorological Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization , the European Commission, the European Police Office and Interpol took part in the exercise.

Oil prices hit fresh record highs on Friday, boosted by weakness in the dollar and simmering tensions over key producer Iran which pushed the London Brent contract above $147 dollars.
Brent North Sea oil for August delivery jumped as high as $147.25, beating the previous record of $146.69 set on July 3.
New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for August, hit another record peak of $146.90 after breaching $146 for the first time.
The oil price jumped back into record territory after the European single currency leapt as high as $1.5868 in afternoon trading on Friday.
The weak dollar boosts demand for dollar-priced oil which becomes cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, analysts said.
Oil also found solid support as traders monitored the latest news on Iran.
In an unfair reaction to Iran’s successful test-firing of missiles in a military drill, the European Union expressed concern and said the tests would compound worries over its nuclear program, a statement from the French EU presidency said.
This is while the EU and US were mum when the Zionist regime simulated an air attack on Iran in a large-scale, public air force maneuver south of Greece in June.

Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi says an Iraqi committee has been formed to expel the terrorist group MKO from the country.
The Iraqi Cabinet has passed a legislation that calls for the expulsion of the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq (MKO) from Iraq as soon as possible, the Iranian envoy told ISNA on Wednesday.
Iraq’s government is seeking the expulsion of MKO from the country, citing Iraq’s Constitution that bans the presence or activities of any terrorist group inside its territory.
Kazemi said the Red Cross is currently engaged in the case and the Iraqi people and their government are determined to send members of the MKO out of Iraq. “Nearly 500 MKO members have disbanded from the terrorist organization over the past three years and returned to Iran with the assistance of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent,“ he said.
The ambassador did not announce any likely future meeting between Iran and the United States over Iraq’s security.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has announced the imminent expulsion of MKO members from Iraq. “The Iraqi government has decided to expel members of the terrorist group. It is the Iraqi Constitution that determines if MKO members will stay or leave Iraq,“ the Al-Bayyina Al-Jadida newspaper quoted Zebari as saying.