Page 41 - IRANRptDec20

at 60% complete’
Two new phases at Iran’s South Pars gas field yielding 40 mcm daily
Iran’s oil minister openly admits forging exports documents to dodge US sanctions
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.”
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.”
Iran’s oil minister has openly admitted forging oil documents to hide the origin of Iranian cargoes of crude that might otherwise not find a market because of US sanctions.
“What we export is not under Iran’s name. The documents are changed over and over, as well as specifications,” Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying in parliament by the website of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
Since early last year, the US has been attempting to use sanctions to meet its stated goal of driving all Iranian crude shipments off world export markets. Earlier this week, Zanganeh described the ultra-aggressive economic policy as like waging a “war without blood”.
Working out how much oil Iran has continued to export on the grey market despite Washington’s efforts is a complex question for analysts.
On September 25, Reuters reported that three assessments based on tanker tracking showed that this month Iranian oil exports have risen sharply. “Exports are way up right now. We are seeing close to 1.5 million bpd in both crude and condensate so far this month,” Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers, told the news agency. “These are levels we haven’t seen in a year and a half.”
China, known as the biggest buyer of Iranian oil on the unhindered market before the US adopted its “zero tolerance” policy, will very likely be the key to Iran’s fortunes in oil sales in the months ahead.
41​ IRAN Country Report December 2020 www.intellinews.com