Oil Terminals Lab Offering Technical Services
Full crude assay laboratories in Iran’s oil terminals are offering services at the national, regional and international levels, CEO of Iran Oil Terminals Company Abbas Assadrouz said. He said the chemical lab of IOTC had been recognized by international bodies as competent in full crude assay. Assadrouz said that employment of specialized manpower and application of the latest instructions had upgraded lab services in the petroleum industry. He said that IOTC was one of the largest crude oil quality assessment centers in the world, which could conduct tests on crude oil and petroleum products in compliance with the latest international standards. He said that crude oil and gas condensate exports had to comply with the latest standards in the world. He added that verification of operations would boost oil exports. Crude oil assay consists of a compilation of data on properties and composition of crude oils. The assay provides critical information on the suitability of crude oil for a particular refinery and estimating the desired product yields and quality. It also indicates how extensively a given crude oil should be treated in a refinery to produce fuels that are in compliance with environmental regulations. COAs have essential role in the technical and economic evaluation of crude oil. Data from COA is being used during defining process parameters and refinery operation optimization. COA contains a detailed characterization of crude oil and crude oil fractions obtained based on the results of laboratory analysis and indicates the quality of prospective products. Crude oils are not identical; each crude oil has unique physical and chemical properties and quality differences. Over time, the physical-chemical characteristics of crude oil change, so it is necessary to control the quality of crude oil at certain time intervals.
Crude Oil, Products Transfer Unaffected by Floods
The CEO of Iranian Oil Pipelines and Telecommunication Company (IOPTC) has said that the flow of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Iran had remained unaffected despite heavy downpours in Iran. Abbas-Ali Jafari-Nasab, however said that in some flood-stricken provinces like those in northern Iran, as well as Lorestan and Khuzestan provinces, the coating of some pipes had been washed away. He said that Iranian technicians were making all pipes secure to prevent any accident. Jafari-Nasab said the Ahvaz-Rey pipeline carrying petroleum products had experienced rupture, adding that some sections of the pipeline had been replaced
OPEC+ Deal Extension Easy
Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh said it was easy for OPEC and non-OPEC participating countries in the DoC to extend their production reduction deal.“Extension of the oil supply reduction agreement by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers would be easy. This agreement has far produced good results,” he said after meeting Russia’s Minister of Energy Alexander Novak.“As far as I know, extending the DoC is not difficult,” he said.Zangeneh said he and Novak had discussed better cooperation between Iran and Russia as two major oil producers. He said he had discussed US sanctions imposed on major oil producers. “We said that three major oil producers – Iran, Russia and Venezuela – are subject to unlawful US sanctions and therefore the oil market has been destabilized in the short and mid-term. That has caused worries among oil consumers.”Zangeneh said he had traveled to Russia to exchange views with his Russian counterpart on oil market conditions. “The global crude oil markets are shaky in terms of supply and demand. Therefore, oil producers must watch out for possible problems in the market conditions, particularly against the backdrop of US
Nouri Petchem Upgrades Paraxylene Unit
CEO of Nouri Petrochemical Company Taqi Sanei has said that the absorption towers of the paraxylene unit of the company have been upgraded. He said the project had cost IRR 9,000 billion, adding: “The paraxylene production unit is one of the important and key units contributing to the profitability of aromatic petrochemical plants. Currently, just a French and an American company are producing paraxylene in the world.” He described paraxylene production as one of the most sophisticated chemical processes, saying: “For this reason, paraxylene costs much higher than other isomers like ortho-xylene.”The Nouri plant is currently producing more than 750,000 tonnes a year of paraxylene, while the Isfahan Petrochemical Plant is producing 44,000 tonnes a year of this product.Sanei said paraxylene production had declined from 2,000 tonnes a day to 12,000 tonnes a day due to the expiration of molecular sieves. He added that European technicians installed new sieves. Paraxylene, also called p-xylene, is a chemical which is essential to the process of manufacturing PET plastic bottles and polyester fiber. Paraxylene is widely used as a feedstock (or “building block”) to manufacture other industrial chemicals, notably terephthalic acid (TPA), purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and dimethyl-terephthalate (DMT). TPA, PTA and DMT are used to manufacture polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyesters, a kind of plastic. Bottles made from PET plastic are widely used as containers for water, sodas, and other beverages because PET is lightweight, shatter-resistant and strong. In addition, PET helps keep the fizz in carbonated beverages because it has strong carbon dioxide barrier properties.Other PET uses include: containers for toiletries, cosmetics and other consumer products; fabrics for curtains, upholstery, and clothing; films for x-rays, magnetic tapes, photographic film and electrical insulation; and packaging for boil-in bags, processed meats, shrink films and blister packs