The firm says it expects to start production from the field by March 2009, after signing the original development deal in 2001 for an estimated $3bn (MEED 11:10:01).

Managing Director Gholamreza Manouchehri told Iran's official energy news agency Shana on 26 August that the platform for phase 6 would be completed by October and an international contractor has been selected to lay the third pipeline for phases 6-8.

Petropars originally hoped to produce 3 billion cubic feet a day of gas and 120,000-barrels-a-day of condensate. It has not given any recent update for these targets.

Most of the gas will be reinjected into depleted oil fields, principally Aghajari, through a 56-inch, 512-kilometre pipeline.