Iran Invites Foreign Bids

Iran has invited foreign companies to develop its offshore South Pars gas field, the first such call since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took power in August, Iran-Mania.com reported. The Iranian National Oil Company has placed four international tenders for the development of phases 19 to 22 of South Pars, the largest offshore field in the world. Iran has divided the gas field, located on the Iran-Qatar border in the Persian Gulf and shared by the two countries, into 25 phases. The tenders' document said that the most-recent phases will supply 100 million cubic meters (3,500 million cubic feet) per day of natural gas for domestic consumption. They are also expected to supply a minimum of two million tons of ethane gas a year for Iranian petrochemical use, 2.1 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per year and 160,000 barrels of gas condensate a day for export. The contracts will be conducted on a buy-back basis. Investment for each phase has been estimated at between $1.2 and $1.5 billion. (Source: www.iranmania.com)