Iranian experts and engineers have indigenized a wellhead equipment with a working pressure rating of 15,000 pounds per square inch, which was unveiled at Shamsabad Industrial Town in Tehran on Tuesday.
All the raw materials for the equipment have been supplied from domestic sources and all the manufacturing stages from the design to tests have been done locally by Wellhead Equipment Technology Company (WETCO), the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana reported.
“Few countries in the world can manufacture this equipment and we had to import it before,” the oil minister said at the unveiling ceremony. “Fortunately, a knowledge-based company has indigenized the item and will mass produce it in the next five years to be used by the National Iranian Oil Company,” Javad Owji was also quoted as saying by Shana.
Those involved in the indigenization project have promised that in addition to meeting domestic needs, they would focus on making such equipment for export as well, he added.
The minister noted that neighboring countries, especially the Persian Gulf littoral states, that are rich in oil and gas, need such equipment, and it is a good opportunity for domestic manufacturers to enter these markets.
The wellhead equipment is the component at the surface of an oil or gas well that offers the pressure-containing and structural interface for the drilling equipment. It provides pressure seals and suspension point for the casing strings. It forms an integral structure of the well.
All the well access for any workover operations is through wellheads that generally have a nominal diameter of 2, 3, 5, 10 and 15 inches and the working pressure ratings range from 2,000 to 15,000 psi.
Rated working pressure is the maximum internal pressure that equipment is designed to contain or control.
Founded in 2001 in Tehran, WETCO is the largest company in the field of wellhead equipment in Iran.
It is specialized in designing and manufacturing a range of equipment, including surface wellheads, Xmas trees and gate valves and related accessories for all oil and gas wells in different sizes, according to the API standards and specifications.
Developing Deep Reservoirs
Also speaking at the ceremony, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company announced that the development of Khami Group reservoirs will be carried out for the first time in the country with an investment of $5.5 billion.
“NIOC seriously intends to develop deep reservoirs and extract oil from the Fahliyan formation of the Khami Group, including Ahvaz, Maroun, Gachsaran and Aghajari fields,” Mohsen Khojastehmehr was also quoted as saying by Shana.
“These fields have special features as well as high pressure and temperature compared to other geological formations,” he said, adding that so far a few American companies have the technical know-how to produce the equipment used in those field and due to the sanctions, Iran could not purchase those items.
The official said the country has an estimated hydrocarbon resources equal to 1,200 billion barrels of oil.
“Of the 1,200 billion barrels of in situ oil equivalent, a significant part is located in Fahliyan formation whose development is more complicated and difficult than Asmari formation. This means we need appropriate equipment for producing oil and gas from such formations,” he said.
85% Self-Sufficiency
Iran is now 85% self-sufficient in manufacturing parts and equipment needed by the oil and gas industries.
In recent years, 12,000 items have been indigenized in the oil-rich regions of southern Iran, some of which are strategic items made in collaboration with knowledge-based companies.
Most of the Iran’s petroleum equipment are now designed, engineered and manufactured locally. These include items such as gas and steam turbines, process pumps, air and gas compressors, industrial valves, pressure vessels, heat exchangers, tanks, air coolers, towers, boilers, pipes, fittings, catalysts, drilling bits, wellhead equipment, drilling rig, control and dispatching systems, instruments, switchgears, high voltage cables and accessories.
Currently, Iran ranks first in the Middle East in the production of oil industry equipment despite the US sanctions.
In May 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed between Iran and P5+1 in July 2015, and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran.
Still in place, the draconian sanctions have mainly targeted Iranian oil and banking sectors. However, despite all the difficulties caused by the sanctions, the oil industry has progressed in the past four years with the help of local experts.
Several companies in the field have endeavored for years to reduce dependence on foreign countries.
The National Iranian Gas Company has planned to indigenize 29 key equipment in the gas industry by 2024 and signed several contracts worth $23 million with domestic knowledge-based companies.
Within three years, the country's gas industry will stop importing these strategic items from European countries such as France and Germany.
While the locally-made items will have the same quality as their foreign counterparts and accord with national and international standards, their production cost will be less than half that of foreign ones.
NIGC has already indigenized several parts and equipment used in the gas industry and reduced the import of equipment worth $300 million per year.
The National Iranian Drilling Company is also collaborating with domestic manufacturers to indigenize equipment and parts used in drilling projects.
Its goal is to empower domestic industries and boost the quality of equipment manufactured inside the country.
NIDC's research, technology and engineering departments have indigenized 5,000 equipment in the past two decades, most of which are used in offshore and onshore rigs.
