The National Iranian South Oil Company collects more than 19 million cubic meters of associate petroleum gas per day in cooperation with private firms and in line with the plan to zero gas flaring in the southern and southwestern regions, head of the Health, Safety and Environment Department of the company said.
“Several environmental projects have been defined and carried out in recent years with the help of private companies to trap APG from oil and gas fields,” the Oil Ministry news agency Shana quoted Mohammad Reza Naderi as saying.
The plans include collection of 1 million cubic meters of APG per day from Parsi Oilfield and 620,000 cubic meters from the Marun field among others.
“Another important project of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Holding Company is the daily collection of 17 million cubic meters of gas from Aghajari and Gachsaran fields to supply part of the feed to Bid Boland Persian Gulf Gas Refinery that came on stream last week,” he added.
In the present calendar year (ends in March) about 85% of APG has been collected from the oil-rich southern regions. NISOC is responsible for the development of 28 oilfields in the two southern regions.
Collecting APG from oil and gas fields is a priority of the Oil Ministry to help safeguard the environment, prevent loss of national wealth and create jobs.
Flaring is the burning of natural gas that cannot be processed or sold. Collection of APG is an important safety measure at oil and gas production sites as it prevents industrial plant equipment from over-pressuring and exploding.
APG is natural gas found with deposits of petroleum. Flaring pours methane, ethane and propane into the atmosphere contributing to air pollution.
Iran has made progress in using flare gas either for power generation or as feed for refineries. Reports say the government has invested $5 billion in related projects.
The Oil Ministry has adopted several measures to reduce gas flaring, namely collecting APG for injection into oil and gas wells, converting it into petroleum products like natural gas liquids and for power production.
Since 2008 Iran has prevented the flaring of 12 billion cubic meters of APG, a source of global warming and waste of valuable fuel.
Despite the measures, Iran has the highest rate of energy waste in the form of APG in the Middle East and ranks third in the world in terms of gas flaring after Russia and Iraq.
According to official reports, approximately 17 bcm of gas is still flared and wasted annually.
