Condensate Refinery Operational

Iran Becomes Self-Sufficient in Petrol Production

The first phase of Bandar Abbas Condensate Refinery, operated by the Persian Gulf Star Oil Company, came online in the presence of President Hassan Rouhani and Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh.

In this first phase, the facility would produce 12 ml/d of euro-4 gasoline, 4.5 ml/d of euro-4 diesel fuel, 1 ml/d of euro-4 kerosene and 1.3 ml/d of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). That would end Iran's gasoline imports.

The refinery will be operated in three phases. Once fully operational, the refinery will be able to produce 36 ml/d of euro-4 and euro-5 gasoline. Currently, nine refineries in Iran are producing 65 ml/d of gasoline altogether.

Addressing the inauguration, the Iranian president said: "Launching this project and self-sufficiency in gasoline production are a source of honor in gas production."

"Under the 11th administration, we managed to become an exporter of gasoil and we will soon be exporting gasoil," he added.

Rouhani said the implementation of Iran's nuclear deal with six world powers "provided grounds which we should benefit from."

Iran Development Path Bright

Minister Zangeneh said after three years of consecutive activity, Iran can now celebrate the start of production of high-octane gasoline at the Bandar Abbas refinery.

"The path towards national development is bright," he said.

Zangeneh noted that the refinery would reach its full production capacity soon.

"Of the total $3.7 billion invested in this project, $1.4 bn was allocated by the 11th administration," he said.

Zangeneh said the refinery project was 47% complete in 2013 when Rouhani took office. "Now, three phases are 90% complete," he added.

The minister also highlighted efforts undertaken by the Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters as the contractor in the project, saying: "We have used all our management experiences and capacities for implementing this project. This is while the current administration was under sanctions for two and a half years."

India to Receive Iran LPG

Iran has signed a first deal with India to supply the Asian energy-starved country with liquefied petroleum gas, the CEO of Iran Gas Commercial Company (IGCC) said.

Mohammad Ali Barati said the deal was signed in Tehran on the sidelines of 2nd Argus LPG conference.

"Iran enjoys very good conditions for supplying oil, gas and petrochemical products on the world markets," he said.

Barati said the first Argus LPG conference received rapturous welcome last year thanks to the lifting of international sanctions.

"That prompted us to attend the second conference and make efforts to gain our share of the global trading of this product," he added.

"Such seminars are attended by all buyers, vendors, shipping firms, brokers, etc. the LPG market in the Far East and the Middle East are analyzed, and based on these analytic data, negotiations are held with different countries and agreements are reached," said Barati.

He said that IGCC was responsible for selling LPG produced at two phases of South Pars and total sulfur produced at Assaluyeh.

"Based on negotiations held in this regard, the total LPG produced at South Pars and Sarkoun, Qeshm and Fajr Jam refineries would be assigned to IGCC to be sold," said Barati.

New Oil Finds in Iran

Iran has seen its oil reserves increase with new discoveries, the CEO of Iran Fuel Conservation Organization (IFCO) said.

Ali Vakili referred to the discovery of "golden triangle of oil" in southern Iran, saying: "With the announcement of new discoveries, it would be possible to boost Iran's ranking among owners of oil reserves in the world."

Addressing the first international conference on enhanced oil recovery in Tehran, he said: "Iran is ranked the first in terms of gas deposits in the world and the country's oil and gas reserves combined have turned Iran into one of the most important countries in terms of global energy supply security."

Vakili said more than a century had passed since first oil well was drilled in Iran. "Many oil fields in Iran are in the second half of their lifecycle and we have to bring the production cycle back to an optimal status with a good output by applying EOR methods."

He said that $200 billion was needed to be invested for developing oil and gas reservoirs in Iran in coming years.

"EOR and IOR demand huge investment and attracting this amount of capital is a major challenge faced by Iran in enhanced recovery," said Vakili.

He said that Iran's Institute for International Energy Studies had drawn up a comprehensive energy plan for the country to estimate Iran's energy supply and demand for four decades.

South Azadegan Output at 80,000 b/d

South Azadegan oil field has seen its production cross 80,000 b/d after long years of remaining unchanged at 50,000 b/d, a top official at the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC) said.

Touraj Dehqani, manager of South Azadegan development, said the first phase of early production in the oil field had materialized.

"Early production from South Azadegan oil field is targeted at 110,000 b/d, which we hope will be realized" up to June, he said.

In October 2009, a contract was signed between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and China's CNPCI for the development of South Azadegan. Due to changes in the master development plan (MDP), the project started in September 2012, but it failed and the NIOC cancelled the contract due to the Chinese party's time killing. Then, Iranian companies replaced the Chinese firm.

Now in less than three years, the domestic companies have brought the South Azadegan output to more than 80,000 b/d.

South Azadegan, which Iran shares with Iraq, is planned to produce 320,000 b/d in the first phase of development and 600,000 b/d in the second phase.

NIOC has so far signed memorandums of understanding with Japan's Inpex, Franc's Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysia's Petronas and Iran's Tanco to study South Azadegan which is set to be put out to tender.

Dehqani expressed hope that development of South Azadegan under Iran's new model of oil contracts would help boost the rate of recovery from this giant field.

8mb/d Oil Export Record Set

Iran Oil Terminals Company (IOTC) managed to set a record of exporting 8 mb/d of crude oil in the last calendar year to March, the CEO of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said.

Ali Kardor said that IOTC also managed to record the simultaneous berthing of eight oil tankers at Kharg oil terminal.

"Oil production and exports experienced a good growth in the calendar year 1395 and several stunning records were set for the petroleum industry in storage, berthing of oil tankers and export of crude oil and gas condensate. It was remarkable," he said.

Kardor referred to the renovation of jetties and crude oil storage and export facilities, saying: "In parallel with these activities, valuable job has been done with regard to smart pig running of subsea oil pipelines between Genaveh Port and Kharg Island, which will secure crude oil exports."

He said that Iran's economic growth owed largely to the NIOC performance, adding: "Therefore, we have to make more and more efforts to strengthen the standing of NIOC and its subsidiaries."