Page 41 - IRANRptMar21

Minister says Iran’s natural gas production at record high despite sanctions that drove away foreign investors
Iran says it’s readied biggest gas refinery in Middle East, West Asia for operation
As pressure eases, Iranian oil exports edge upwards
amount to $37bn by 2026, based on an output capacity of around 133mn tonnes per year.
"Since the beginning of the current Iranian year [the year began on March 21, 2020] five petrochemical projects from investments of $3bn have been inaugurated by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani," Zangeneh noted.
He then referred to 19 petrochemical projects coming on stream in a second phase with a value of $11.4bn and combined capacity of 25mn tonnes/yr but did not specify a time frame for that phase.
Iran's natural gas production has reached a record high even as US sanctions caused major international exploration companies to scale back their activities in the Islamic Republic, S&P Global Platts reported on February 7.
Production hit a record of 1.04 bcm/d, Iran's oil minister Bijan Zanganeh was reported as saying on the sidelines of a petrochemicals conference in Tehran. Iran in April last year officially began the long-delayed development of phase 11 of the giant South Pars gas field. Output in early 2020 was 670mn cm/d. Phase 11 is the last of the 24 phases in the massive offshore gas field, shared with Qatar, to go under development. It is anticipated that it will produce 56mn cu m/d of gas.
National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), meanwhile, is set to invest €25mn to form a direct gas pipeline connection with the southern Iranian island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz with the Iranian mainland, IRNA reported on February 8.
The 59-kilometre pipeline will connect to the Direstan terminal on Qeshm, a free trade zone.
Iran has readied the biggest gas refinery in the Middle East and West Asia for operation, officials said on January 19.
The Bidboland Gas Refinery Company facility in southwestern Khuzestan province will be inaugurated on January 21, according to the firm’s CEO, Mahmoud Aminnejad.
"Despite US sanctions, the Bidboland gas refinery has been built by the experts of Iran and is ready for operation," Aminnejad told the official IRNA news agency.
"More than 3.4 billion US dollars have been invested in the construction of the large refinery. It is able to collect all the gases associated with oil extraction in Iran and turn them into useful gas," he was also cited as saying.
The refinery’s gas production capacity—ranging across methane, ethane, butane and propane—was 2bn cubic feet (56.6mn cubic metres) per day, the CEO said, adding: "For the construction of the plant, more than 1,000 km of feed and transmission pipelines have been built, and it is currently the third top project of its kind in the world."
The refinery is to employ more than 1,100 people.
Separately, Iran is reportedly looking to poach Saudi oil contracts, especially with “coveted Asian customers, with new projects,​according to OilPrice.com​.
Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zanganeh said last week that a sharp increase has been experienced in the country’s oil exports following the end of the Presidency of Donald Trump in the US.
While the increases have been modest, with Bloomberg quoting various industry sources as saying that the gains are around 30,000-50,000 barrels per day (bpd), they represent increased confidence on behalf of buyers though covert practices continue to be employed to maintain a lack of clarity about sales.
41​ IRAN Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com