TEHRAN -- Iran will invest more than $16 billion in South Pars gas field to develop its remaining phases in the current Iranian calendar year (to end March 20, 2012), the managing director of Pars Special Economic Energy Zone said here on Sunday.

IRNA quoted Seyyed Pirouz Mousavi as saying that, “Daily production of more than 700 million cubic meters in the giant gas field is the goal of the ministry.”
Mousavi noted that the ministry plans to start early production of gas in phases 15, 16, 17 and 18 of South Pars field.
According to the official the gas field’s daily production currently stands at 200-210 million cubic meters.
The Iranian official said earlier in March that more than $200 billion investment is needed for the South Pars projects until the end of Iran's Fifth Development Plan (2010-2015), Press TV reported.
Iran's Fifth Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (2010-2015) is part of a long-term roadmap for sustainable growth.
The South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf on a border zone between Iran and Qatar. The field's reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas.
Known as the world's largest gas field, South Pars holds an estimated 50.97 trillion cubic meters of gas and some 50 billion barrels of condensates.
The gas field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, of which 3,700 square kilometers (South Pars) is in the Iranian territorial waters and 6,000 square kilometers (North Dome) is in Qatar's territorial waters.
Iran has the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia.