According to Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), Ali Akbar Majed, referring to the start of drilling operations for the SP-16 extension appraisal well on the north side of the South Pars gas field, said POGC has started drilling the well to determine the expansion of the South Pars gas field in its north and evaluate the potential capacity of the unchartered parts of the field by hiring the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company.

He noted that one of the solutions considered in the master plan to maintain gas production in the South Pars joint field is evaluation and location of suitable hydrocarbon reserves, and said: “the SP-16 well, whose appraisal objectives and evaluation has been determined in cooperation with the exploration department of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), is the first of four wells planned for drilling and evaluation of areas outside the current blocks of the field.”