TEHRAN, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Oil Ministry on Sunday signed major contracts with domestic contractors to boost pressure in the South Pars gas field, which the country jointly shares with Qatar, reported Shana News Agency affiliated with Iran's Oil Ministry.

The contracts were signed between the Pars Oil and Gas Company, a subsidiary of the Iranian Oil Ministry, and the contractors, including Petropars, Oil Industries' Engineering and Construction (OIEC Group), the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, MAPNA Group and an Iranian consulting firm, according to the report.

Under the contracts, a total of 20 billion U.S. dollars would be invested in the pressure-boosting project, aiming to increase gas and condensates extraction from the field by 90 trillion cubic feet and 2 billion barrels respectively, thus generating 900 billion dollars in revenues for the country, the report said.

The project is considered the Iranian oil industry's most important and strategic plan.

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said in the signing ceremony that the project would create a 20-billion-dollar capacity for operations by Iranian companies.

He put daily extraction from the joint gas field at 707 million cubic meters, which was a new record, stressing that without boosting the pressure, the continuation of such an amount of extraction would lead to a drop in the field's gas pressure.

The South Pars gas field, known as the North Dome in Qatar, is the world's largest natural gas field located in the waters between Iran and Qatar.

According to the International Energy Agency, the field holds an estimated 1,800 trillion cubic feet (51 trillion cubic meters) of in-situ natural gas and some 50 billion barrels (7.9 billion cubic meters) of natural gas condensates. Enditem

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