Iran has officially launched phase 12 of the supergiant offshore South Pars gas field in a ceremony that was attended by President Hassan Rouhani.

Iran has officially launched phase 12 of the supergiant offshore South Pars gas field in a ceremony that was attended by President Hassan Rouhani.

On the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony, Sheikh Rouhani told reporters that Iran managed to launch Phase 12 of the South Pars gas field despite sanctions against the country.

“We … proudly announce that … we’ve managed to make the massive phases [of the South Pars gas field] operational at a time of sanctions. This means that although sanctions created certain problems for us, they failed to impede our progress,” the Iranian president said.

Rouhani further stressed that the era of putting pressure on Iran through sanctions is over. He said that no power can dent Iran’s determination to tread the path toward progress, adding that Phase 12 of the South Pars gas field was developed through the Iranian expertise.

Ali Akbar Sha’banpour, Managing Director of South Pars Oil and Gas Company, said Phase 12 will exploit three billion feet of sour gas from the seabed, equal to 84 million cubic meters (MMcm), and after separating its gas derivatives, injects 75 MMcm of sweet gas to the trans-Iranian gas pipeline network.

Phase 12 is located in the south eastern block of the South Pars field, on the border with Qatar. The project’s total area is 128 square miles, located approximately 96 miles from Iran’s coastline. The project cost more than $7 billion to implement and is expected to generate $10 billion annually, which accounts for 3%of the country’s GDP, reports Tehran Times.