TEHRAN- The development of the Belal gas field, as one of the key and strategic projects of the oil industry in the Persian Gulf, has entered a new implementation phase with significant technical progress in drilling and platform construction.

This field, due to its proximity to the giant South Pars field, holds strategic importance for increasing the country's gas production, and is now rapidly moving toward exploitation relying on the specialized capability of the Petropars Group.

According to IRNA, the Belal gas field is one of Iran's offshore gas fields in the waters of the Persian Gulf, located within the operational area of South Pars, and is recognized as one of the important oil industry projects for increasing the country's gas production capacity.

Due to its geographical location and proximity to existing infrastructure in the South Pars region, this field has strategic importance.

According to the development plans of the oil industry, the Belal field is being developed with the aim of increasing natural gas production, supplying feedstock for gas refineries, and enhancing offshore resource extraction. The field's proximity to South Pars facilities allows the use of some existing capacities for gas transmission and processing, which can reduce development costs and accelerate exploitation.

The development plan includes drilling production wells, constructing and installing an offshore platform, building gas transmission pipelines, and connecting to processing facilities. The development of the Balal field is being pursued within the framework of the general policy of increasing gas production capacity and optimal use of the country's offshore infrastructure.

Given the growth of gas consumption in the country and the high share of offshore fields in energy supply, the development of fields such as Belal plays an important complementary role in the sustainability of Iran's gas production and can be effective in strengthening energy security and ensuring continued stable gas supply.

* 45% progress of the exploitation platform

Hamidreza Saqafi, CEO of the Petropars Group, announced an important step in the development of the Belal gas field and stated: With the completion of drilling of the first development well of this field and 45% progress in the engineering, construction and installation of the exploitation platform deck, the implementation of this strategic project in the Persian Gulf has entered a new phase.

Referring to the progress of the project, he said: The development of the Belal gas field is underway with priority given to well drilling operations and simultaneously the construction of the exploitation platform deck in Khorramshahr yard. In the latest technical step of the project, drilling of the first development well has been completed, and the progress of engineering, construction and installation of the platform deck has reached 45%.

Saqafi, pointing to the acceleration of execution operations at Belal field, added: After completing the construction and installation of the jacket and deploying the drilling rig, drilling operations for the field's wells began. At this stage, the driving of conductor pipes for eight wells has been carried out, and the Tie-back operation for descriptive well BLG-8 has also been successfully completed.

He continued: In one of the most important parts of the field development plan, the first development well named BLG-10 was drilled, and reservoir logging operations for this well have also been completed.

The CEO of the Petropars Group, emphasizing the company's role in executing upstream oil industry projects, said: The Petropars Group, which is one of the subsidiaries of the Ministry of Petroleum, as the executive arm of the National Iranian Oil Company, has employed all its specialized and operational capability to complete the infrastructure of this field.

In this regard, Farshid Shahriari, manager of the Belal gas field development project, explaining the technical details of the project, stated: The four-legged jacket of the field's platform is designed with a height of 75 meters and a weight of 1,760 tons and has 15 drilling slots. The four piles of this jacket weigh a total of 1,256 tons and have been installed at a water depth of 65 meters in the Persian Gulf.

He added: The construction of the platform deck structure has progressed 56%, and overall, the engineering, construction and installation progress of the platform in this project has reached 45%.

The Petropars Group, which has a long history in developing the country's oil and gas fields, has previously recorded in its track record the development of more than half of the phases of the joint South Pars field in both onshore and offshore sections.

The continuation of these successes was recently demonstrated with the commissioning of the 11th well of South Pars Phase 11 at location B of these projects; an achievement that, according to company officials, demonstrates the high operational capability and technical experience of the Petropars Group in executing large-scale projects of the country's oil and gas industry.

The Belal gas field is among the projects whose development can play an important role in increasing Iran's gas production capacity, and given its location near South Pars, the use of some existing infrastructure for gas transmission and processing has also been considered in this plan.

EF/MA