Page 57 - IRANRptAug21

9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
Iran’s Persian Gulf Star Refinery oil product exports ‘up 200%’
Iran finalises deals with local firms
Exports of petroleum products from Iran’s Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGSR) increased by 200% y/y in 2020, the Iranian oil ministry’s SHANA energy news service reported on June 9.
“It is estimated that 1.6mn tonnes of oil products were shipped to international markets in 2020,” refinery director Mohammad Dadvar was quoted as saying. Iran’s gasoline production has roughly doubled in three years, according to officials, allowing the country to become the biggest gasoline exporter in West Asia.
Despite US sanctions and fluctuating oil prices, driving up gasoline exports remained on the government's agenda, Dadvar was also reported as saying. “When there are surplus reserves, they can be sold through the Iranian Energy Exchange with less difficulty compared to crude oil,”Dadvar added.
PGSR is the largest in a significant project undertaken by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co. (NIORDC) which saw total Iranian refining capacity increase from 1.55mn bpd in 2017 to 2.2mn bpd last year.
The launch of the 360,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery was also central to Iran achieving fuel self-sufficiency. Phase 1 was officially inaugurated in April 2017, with the first shipment of gasoline delivered for distribution two months later.
Phase 2 began producing Euro-V gasoline shortly after its own official launch in February 2018 and was running at full capacity by June that year. The third phase was inaugurated in October 2019, although it had already been operational for several months before the official opening.
Each phase was designed to produce 12mn litres per day (lpd) of Euro 5 gasoline, plus 4.5mn lpd of Euro 4 standard diesel, 1mn lpd of kerosene and 300,000 lpd of LPG.
Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh in January oversaw the signing of eight deals between the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) and local companies to maintain and increase production levels for seven southern oilfields and one offshore asset.
As reported by Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG), the $1.2bn worth of deals cover the offshore Reshadat oilfield as well as others located in the Bushehr, Fars, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad and Hormozgan provinces.
Deals were signed on behalf of NIOC by subsidiaries National Iranian South Oil Co. (NISOC) and Iranian Offshore Oil Co. (IOOC) and follow a larger raft of 13 contracts awarded in August last year worth an estimated $1.78bn targeting a production increase of 185,000 barrels per day.
The announcement comes as part of a nationwide effort to increase production by 355,000 bpd at a total of 33 fields. Under this umbrella initiative a total of 22 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms have agreed deals for the 33 assets with two yet to be signed.
Some of the same companies picked up contracts in both sets of awards, with the latest round of contracts focusing mainly on smaller assets than those handed out in August.
A contract for the Golkhari oilfield was awarded to North Drilling Co. (Sina Energy Gostar Holding), which is owned by the Bonyad-e Mostazafan Foundation, a religious endowment for war veterans and the poor. Both fall under the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO).
57 IRAN Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com