Dr. Seyed Reza Norouzzadeh, the deputy minister of industry, mining, and trade as well as the chairman of the board of directors of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) and Eng. Roknodin Javadi, the deputy oil minister, accompanied by a group of directors and deputies of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran, managers of the National Iranian Oil Company and Pars Oil and Gas Company, Iran Industrial Management Company, and ISOICO Company, paid a visit to different phases of the South Pars gas field. The visit heralds a countdown for the inauguration of phases 17 and 18 of the gas field.According to the public relations of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran, Fardad Daliri, the director for large energy and infrastructural projects at IDRO, touched on the visit, saying that deputies of the two key ministries of industry and oil paid visits to different phases of the South Pars gas field, including phases 12, 14, 17, and 18 in Assalouyeh and Kangan regions. They expressed satisfaction about the progress of projects to develop the mentioned phases.The senior officials, who visited phases 17 and 18, said the development projects are passing their final stages. During the visit, the officials were assured that by November 2, one of the Trains of the phases will come on stream.Over the past six months, IDRO managed to commission different units of phases 17 and 18, such as power stations, control rooms, boilers, pressurized air, liquefied nitrogen, water supply from sea, pressure boost compressors, injection to the national network, sweetened gas production, and torches through a hard work and extensive efforts, he said. The director for large energy and infrastructural projects at IDRO said that the supply of input gas to the refinery is passing its final stages and the project will be completed by the early November. Based on the project, gas will be supplied to the processing, refining, and sweetening system, he noted. Daliri went on to say that the processing units of phases 17 and 18 are ready to come on stream and the input gas should be supplied temporarily to the refinery from phases 6, 7, and 8. Special pipelines will transfer gas to the refinery, he noted.According to him, phases 6, 7, and 8 have been inaugurated by IDRO in cooperation with foreign contractors. All the next phases of the South Pars have so far come on stream using natural gas produced in these phases, he said.The official noted that more than 8,000 people under IDRO management are working for the development of phases 17 and 18. All the efforts are being made to materialize the goal of supplying 12.5 million cubic meters of natural gas before winter to the national gas network as the oil minister has promised to the president. The goal will be certainly achieved by November 21, he added.It should be noted that phases 17 and 18 of the South Pars gas field are being developed by a consortium, comprising the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) holding 48 percent share as the leading company, Oil Industries Engineering and Construction (OIEC) holding 31 percent share, and Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) as the contractor of the offshore section holding 21 percent share. The two phases are projected to produce 2,880 tons of propane-butane (LPG), 80,000 barrels of gas condensates, 00 tons of sulfur, 50 million cubic meters of refined gas, 70 million cubic feet of ethane per day to be delivered to the National Iranian Petrochemical Industries, and one million tons of liquefied gas per year. The development of the phases is complete by 94 percent and one of the units will come on stream in the near future.​