An official has reported on arrival of the first Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit in the Persian Gulf to develop first phase of South Pars oil layer.

CEO of Petroiran Development Company Roham Ghasemi said in time with the anniversary of Fajr Decade, the first FPSO vessel entered Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf saying “the ship arrived in Iran’s territorial sea in early hours of February 10 to mark the first FPSO unit of the Middle East.”

The official said the vessel was en route to its operational location in South Pars oil layer and would will be deployed to the region’s waters in case of favorable weather conditions.

In October, 2016, Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Company Ali Kardor had pointed to the purchase of Iran’s first FPSO unit for development of South Pars oil layer reporting on an output of 35 thousand oil barrels from the joint field with Qatar by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (to end March 20).

Meanwhile, NIOC Deputy Head for Development and Engineering Affairs Gholamreza Manouchehri has reported on talks with Denmark’s Maersk Group over development of the second phase of South Pars oil layer.

Development plan of South Pars oil layer aims at daily production of 35 thousand barrels from the non-joint section of the hydrocarbon field although Qatar has been recovering oil from the joint field since 1991.

A Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit is a floating vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry for the production and processing of hydrocarbons, and for the storage of oil. A FPSO vessel is designed to receive hydrocarbons produced by itself or from nearby platforms or subsea template, process them, and store oil until it can be offloaded onto a tanker or, less frequently, transported through a pipeline.

Source: MNA