Page 14 - DMEA Week 25

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Iran refinery gas output registers

annual growth

IRAN THE National Iranian Gas Co. (NIGC) has element in manufacturing petrochemicals,
announced growth in the natural gas production namely ethylene, can generate at least $1,000 in
Production has reached at Iran’s refineries. export revenue.
674mn cubic metres A spokesman was quoted as saying that the However, in the recent past, the lack of ethane
per day, according to average natural gas production was 674mn cubic supply required Iran to assign a monthly quota
NIGC. metres per day. of the material to the petrochemical companies.
The official further said that the country’s But the quotas are gradually being eliminated
gas consumption was currently at 540 mcm per as more South Pars Gas Field phases in the Per-
day, having hit a high of 600 mcm last year. The sian Gulf are becoming fully operational. With
rate of usage is likely to increase during the sum- the development and operation of most phases
mer peak as electricity consumption rises and of South Pars and the countdown for finalisation
gas consumption by the country’s power plants of the remaining phases of the giant gas reservoir
follows. on the one hand and the implementation of three
The steady increase in Iran’s gas production crucial gas projects in Assaluyeh and Kangan on
has provided domestic petrochemical players the other, Iran’s petchem sector will be provided
with the opportunity to diversify their feedstock with an abundance of different gas feedstock.
in a bid to tackle the shortages created during the The domestic demand for ethane is now
past years. 5.5mn tonnes and the envisaged surplus will in
The insufficient production of vital gas feed- due course be able to be exported.
stock has been one of the biggest challenges Increasing the production capacity of meth-
facing the development of the country’s pet- ane, ethane, propane, butane and gas condensate
rochemical industry throughout the past two will diversify the feedstock baskets of the petro-
decades. chemical players and thus help them propel their
The challenge has mostly been felt by the plans forward despite the sanctions imposed by
gas-burning ethane producers struggling with the United States against Iran’s strategic sector.
feedstock shortage. The last offshore platform of South Pars Gas
Ethane is among the highest value-added Field phases 22-24 has become operational,
products used as feedstock in petrochemical increasing the giant reservoir’s production by 14
plants. Each tonne of ethane, as the principal mcm per day. ™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 25•June•2020