Iran’s state-run Pars Oil & Gas Company (POGC) plans to install offshore platforms at the South Pars gas development, in a bid to ramp up production from the giant gas field in the Gulf.

The company plans to install the six platforms by the end of the Iranian calendar year in March 2019, a senior executive said in a local media report.

The official said construction of the platforms at Sadra yard in the southwestern province of Bushehr is nearing completion, and of the nine platforms being built in the yard, six will be completed and ready for installation by end of March next year.

The South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar, covers an area of 9,700 square kilometres, 3,700 square kilometres of which are in Iran’s territorial waters. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers are situated in Qatari waters, which Doha calls North Dome.

The combined field is estimated to contain 1,8000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and approximately 50 billion barrels of gas condensates, according to the International Energy Agency.