Iran expects to extract a billion cubic meters of natural gas from Phase 14 of the supergiant South Pars Gas Field, said the operator of the project.

Morteza Zarrin Gol, operator of Phase 14 development project, said drilling operations for early production of the offshore phase are 64 percent complete and its two platforms will go on-stream by March 19, Shana reported.

He said Iran's Oil Ministry has prioritized the launching of the phase in order to speed up the development of joint oil and gas fields.

By the March 19, platforms 14C and 14A of the phase will operate 22 of their wells producing gas which will be treated in onshore refineries.

Phase 14 is set to produce 56.5 mcm/d of sour gas, 75,000 bpd of gas condensates, one million tons a year of liquefied gas, one million tons a year of ethane and 400 tons a day of sulfur.

The development of Phase 14 has been undertaken by a consortium which includes Iran's Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO), National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex Co (ISOICO) and IOEC.