Page 43 - IRANRptNov20

9.0​ Industry & Sectors 9.1 ​Sector news
9.1.1​ Oil & gas sector news
Pipeline giving Iranian oil exports direct Indian Ocean access ‘on schedule at 60% complete’
Two new phases at Iran’s South Pars gas field yielding 40 mcm daily
An oil pipeline that will allow Iran to ship oil exports without needing to send tankers through the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint is 60% complete and on schedule.
The 1,000-km-long pipeline will run from Goreh near the Persian Gulf port city of Bushehr to the port town of Jask in southern Hormozgan province on Iran’s Gulf of Oman coastline, from where tankers can set sail to the Arabian Sea and wider Indian Ocean.
Last week, Touraj Dehqani, deputy CEO of the Petroleum Engineering and Development Co. (PEDEC), said that the pipeline would allow parent firm the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) to export its first oil cargo from the Jask terminal by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which concludes on March 20, 2021.
Dehqani made the announcement following meetings with contractors and project managers.
“It is necessary for pipe manufacturing companies to make extra efforts for timely delivery of the entire length of pipes required for the project within the next three months and send it to the workshop,” he said.
He added that “in the storage tanks section of Jask terminal, parts of sheets have been made and the welding operations of the tanks have started about one month ago.”
Iran began work on the pipeline in April with President Hassan Rouhani saying that the 1mn barrel per day conduit would allow crude exports from Jask to increase. “Jask will turn into Iran’s key hub of oil exports,” he added. At present the Kharg Island terminal in the Gulf accounts for 90% of the country’s oil exports.
Of the $1.8bn total project cost, the Goreh-Jask pipeline is anticipated to come in at around $1.1bn, with the remainder being spent on the development of the port. The Jask port will feature 20 tanks with a total storage capacity of 10mn barrels of crude, with plans in plans to expand export infrastructure.
Daily gas production from phases 22 and 24 of Iran's South Pars gas field has reached 40mn cubic metres, according to a company official on September 26.
Iran continues to invest in the huge offshore field despite international companies like Total pulling out in 2016 due to US pressure following the resumption of American sanctions. In the meantime, local companies have stepped into the fray to develop and extract the underwater gas.
The director of Refinery Number 12, Mehdi Gerami Shirazi, said: “Since South Pars phases 22 and 24 have newly been launched, their daily gas production capacity has reached 40mn cubic metres.”
“Refinery Number 12 of South Pars delivers about 46mn cubic metres gas per day, while more than 40mn cubic metres of gas is produced and exported,” he added.
The company representative added: “In Refinery Number 12, 1,080 and 600 tonnes of propane and butane [are] produced per day, respectively.”
43​ IRAN Country Report November 2020 www.intellinews.com