The amount of energy wasted in Iran due to daily flaring equals the energy produced by burning 5.5 million barrels of oil, a former lawmaker and a consultant to Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani revealed on Wednesday.
“Neither the government nor Majils feels accountable vis-a-vis such colossal waste, and this has been going on for years,” Mohammad Reza Bahonar was quoted as saying by ILNA.
Associated petroleum gas, or APG, is natural gas found with deposits of petroleum. Flaring is the practice of burning natural gas that cannot be processed or sold.
Government data show Iran burned as much as 56 million cubic meters of gas per week in 2008, which roughly equal the output of a standard South Pars phase in a day. This volume now has declined to 5 million cubic meters a week -- still a huge source of energy if harnessed.
According to the MP, Iran’s oil industry has a one century history, but “we are no more than a (small) seller of crude. This indeed explains why we are highly vulnerable to sanctions”.
Elaborating the point, he said, “True, the oil sector has made progress. But a lot more should have been achieved, and there is a long way ahead.” He stressed that “so long as the economy depends on selling oil, the downstream industry, including petrochemical plants, cannot develop as expected.”
Bahonar noted that petrochemicals produced in Iran is limited and needs to be more diverse.
Referring to petrochemicals export revenues, he said the figure is around $10 billion a year for 30 million tons.
Costly Exercise
“If the mix is more diverse, we can make five times more,” he said, adding that petrochemicals (like oil) are not converted into value-added goods and “this again makes us susceptible to sanctions”.
Oil wells are getting older, he warned, echoing the warnings of oil and energy experts over several years. Translation: more money needs to be spent for producing oil.
Two decades ago, extracting a barrel cost less than $1. It has reached $8 and estimates show this will climb to as $20 in the future that is why converting oil to value-added commodities should be a priority over just selling it with difficulty and low margins.
Iran’s crude oil exports were cut by more than 80% after the United States re-imposed sanctions. US President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers last year paving the way for new hostilities and economic warfare.
The Trump White House has imposed tougher sanctions on Iran’s economic sectors, namely oil, banking and shipping.
