Pars Oil and Gas Co. (POGC) has completed a well pressure equalization project on various platforms at the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.

The program was designed to speed up the restart process for the wells following production shutdowns, according to news service Shana.

POGC Director of Production and Operations Alireza Sarmadi previously said that well restarts had typically been delayed due to high-pressure differences across the downhole valves, extending the service resumption times for platforms on certain South Pars phases by 12 to 24 hours.

But at the platforms equipped with pressure equalization systems or “self-equalize” downhole valves, he added, production is restored in under two hours. Aside from the financial benefits, the change has also brought methanol savings.

Sadegh Lari-Mojarad, the company’s deputy manager of production and operations engineering at POGC, said the combined efforts of the production, maintenance, operations engineering, technical inspection, safety and logistics teams had also maximized operational efficiency of the well restart process.

So far this year, 29 South Pars platforms have undergone annual maintenance overhauls, with work on the other platforms still in progress.

Offshore has covered a few of those projects throughout this year: