Iran plans to start producing gas and condensate at Phases 17 and 18 of the South Pars offshore deposit by late March, boosting output of the fuel that it wants to use as feedstock to triple its petrochemicals output, Bloomberg reported.
The two new South Pars phases will produce a combined 50 million cubic meters a day of gas and 80,000 barrels a day of condensate, Hassan Jahangiri, implementation and project manager at Pars Oil & Gas Co., was quoted saying in the southern port of Assaluyeh. 
“The project is about 95 percent complete, and it will be ready to be inaugurated before the end of this Iranian year,” he said of the two phases scheduled for completion by the new Iranian calendar year starting March 21. “We are waiting for gas from the offshore fields.”

Iran, with the world’s biggest natural gas reserves, according to BP Plc data, is raising production from South Pars to provide fuel for power plants as well as raw material for chemical factories, said the report by the Manhattan-based media company.
It also said Iran plans to develop the Persian Gulf deposit in 24 phases, of which 11 are currently producing as the Islamic Republic wants the nearby city of Assaluyeh to become a hub for producing petrochemicals, which are used to manufacture plastics.\

TEHRAN, Nov. 14 (Shana)