900km Gas Pipelines Built Domestically
as pipelines, as the vital artery of sustainable supply of gas, has witnessed significant development over recent years. In the last calendar year to March 2018, a total of 1,000 km of pipes was connected to the national gas grid. Over 900 kilometers of pipe was installed during the first 11 months of the current calendar year. Capacity building for gas exports to neighboring countries and boosting the sustainability of gas supply to various parts of the country through 100 percent reliance on domestic manpower and domestically manufactured equipment are among the major objectives of designing and building pipelines in Iran. That, along with many other relevant issues, has been discussed with Farhad Hassani, manager of gas pipelines at the Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDCO).Would you please explain about projects under way this year?At the beginning of the current calendar year, the 45-kilometer-long Simakan pipeline was supplied with gas. Later on we fed gas into the 300,000-cubic meter Tang Lateh gas station in Sari. Thanks to the latter, we boosted gas supply to Mazandaran Province, particularly Sari, Babol and Amol. Thanks to this project, no gas shortage was seen in the province this year. That was a big honor in gas supply to the residents of northern Iran. The project was conducted by designers at IGEDC. Very recently, the Jiroft gas pipeline became operational, supplying gas to local residents. The pipeline laid in Jiroft was 71km long with a diameter of 20 inches. Has Jiroft been supplied with gas entirely?No, not yet. The provincial gas supply company is now tasked with extending the network and connections in the city. Our task involved laying out the pipeline and its CGS and we performed our task. In Jiroft, the urban gas supply grid has been partly built. Since gas has been brought to this city I hope that gas supply to the entire city would be prioritized so that more customers would have access to gas next calendar year. This issue pertains mainly to the gas officials in Kerman Province. Of course, the company is doing its best for gas supply to the city. We have already accomplished our tasks with regard to the project, and now it’s up to Kerman provincial gas company to continue providing services.Do you plan to inaugurate any projects by the end of the current calendar year?We have the Kamfirouz gas pipeline project in Marvdasht, which we hope would come online this year. The pipeline is 31 km long with pipes of 12-inch in diameter. We have also the Bayrom gas pipeline in Lar in Fars Province under way. It is about 25 kilometers long with pipes of 6-inch in diameter. The pipeline is also to come online by the end of the current calendar year.Do you expect any projects to come online next calendar year?We have the Darreh Abbas gas pipeline project under way in Mahshahr. We will make arrangements before the year ends. The project has made good progress and we hope to be able to operate this project next spring. The pipeline is 63 km long and 36 inches in diameter. It is aimed at upgrading Mahshahr’s petrochemical industry. We are working on it.What is the progress rate of the pipeline?Almost 27 km of this pipeline has been completed and 55 km of pipe has been carried for this project. The project has been going on at a high speed. The compressors’ valves are ready and we are optimistic that this project would come online next spring. The pipeline is being built to enhance the volume of feedstock supply to the Mahshahr and Shadegan petrochemical plants. We have also the Juyon Banarouyeh pipeline under way in Fars Province. The pipeline is 105 kilometers long and 10 inches in diameter. Outsourcing has been done for the project and the contractor has been chosen to start work. The pipeline is being built to supply gas to urban areas and industries in the province.To what extent have you met the pre-determined targets?In the current calendar year, given foreign exchange rate fluctuations and disturbances in the road transport fleet, we lagged behind our projections. However, we sought to make up for delays and we are seriously implementing projects in order to be on schedule. Meantime, the forex rate fluctuations are slowing down the projects.What has the Petroleum Ministry done with regard to the forex rate fluctuations in such National Iranian Gas Company contracts?No plan has so far been implemented. The directive issued recently does not concern these projects and this issue may not be discussed easily. Implementation of plans is time-consuming and the contractors have to bear costs in the hope of recouping them.Is there any note in the contract to predict forex rate fluctuations?Since we modify the contracts such issues are not integrated. From 2013 to 2017 everything was going on smoothly as we had no forex fluctuations. The sudden change in the forex rate occurred in 2018, which proved to be very effective. Those who were signing contracts two years go could never predict such forex rate changes. We take this issue into consideration in the new contracts. What projects are expected to start up next calendar year?Next year, we will have the detailed design of the Iran Gas Trunkline 10 (IGAT10) on the agenda. We are expected to complete the detailed design of this pipeline next year. This pipeline starts from Pol Kaleh to reach Qom. It is 243 kilometers long and 56 inches in diameter. Basic design for the project is under way and the detailed design will be done next year so that the project would be ready for outsourcing. We also plan to complete the Juyon Banarouyeh pipeline, and the steel Boutia pipeline in Kerman. The latter will be 40 kilometers long. Construction has already started and we are preparing the yard and the delivery of our pipes, to start the work on schedule.What kind of sheets is used in the pipe manufacturing?The pipeline project was the first one in which x60 slabs were supplied by the Mobarakeh Steel Mill. That caused the domestic manufacturing of x60 slabs which we used in the Jiroft project. I fully ensure you that the Jiroft gas project is totally Iranian and I offer my gratitude to the contractor and the consultant. In the current year we have made efforts to use Iranian-made commodities. That is now an advantage of this project compared with other projects. What kind of other sheets was used in the pipe manufacturing?The sheet that used to be manufactured in Iran was x52. X60 was among sheets that were purchased from abroad. After their domestic manufacturing any export was banned. We were the first buyer of these products from Mobarakeh Steel Mill. In terms of quality, the sheet is no different from foreign ones. All tests have been conducted on the pipes in which these sheets have been used and there has been no problem.Have you faced any problems in local communities for land allotment?There are such problems, but we follow up on them via NIGC Legal Affairs Department based on official prices. For instance, we had to build a gas pipeline in Kuhdasht and Khorramabad. Due to the high prices of land, we faced problems. That is inevitable.What are your plans for extending Iran’s gas pipelines in the current calendar year?A total of 200 kilometers was added to IGEDCO’s pipeline plan. In other projects activities are under way for new extensions.