The development project to implement the fourth phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the southern Hormozgan Province will start soon, deputy for technical and engineering affairs at Khatam al-Anbiya Oil and Gas Holding Company said.
“The plan, which will be fully funded by the holding company, will become operational in 2024,” Farokh Shahir was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
The new phase is expected to help raise PGSR’s current gasoline output at 360,000 barrels per day to 480,000 barrels, he added.
The official noted that daily gasoline consumption has surpassed 95 million liters per day and the uptrend is continuing, stressing that not raising the current production capacity by funding new initiatives will mean Iran has to import the fuel in the foreseeable future.
Each PGSR phase uses about 120,000 barrels per day of gas condensate, supplied from the giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.
“With the launch of fourth phase, the refinery will consume about 500,000 bpd of the fuel, as a strategic move to use the field's gas domestically instead of exporting it,” Shahir said.
According to Mohammad Meshkinfam, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, gas condensates from SP accounts for 40% of total gasoline output in Iran, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company.
"South Pars Gas Complex produces 650,000 barrels of gas condensates per day, a major part [500,000 barrels] of which is delivered to the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Hormozgan Province for conversion to gasoline,” he added.
An estimated 100 million liters of gasoline are produced in Iran per day.
“Forty million liters are from condensates produced from the SP Gas field,” he said, stressing that the rest is produced by refineries, namely in Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Arak and Isfahan.
“Gas condensate is also sold to petrochemical plants in Asalouyeh and Mahshahr in the south as feedstock to produce value-added products and is offered on the international platform of Iran Energy Exchange.”
Gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids present as gaseous components in unprocessed natural gas.
Meshkinfam further said that as Iran increases gas output (1 billion cubic meters per day), gas condensate production is getting a boost to raise gasoline output.
SPGC comprises 75% and 92% of total natural gas and gas condensate output, respectively, he added.
South Pars is the world's largest gas field shared between Iran and Qatar. It is developed in 24 phases, of which 23 are operational.
Environmental Preservation Plans
Under pressure from Iran’s Department of Environment, shareholders and oil companies, including PGSR, are investing in environmental preservation plans to “stay green”.
The company has been introduced by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company as a top refiner that has made increasing efforts to help preserve the environment, including expansion of green spaces, using wastewater, curbing pollutants and improving energy management.
According to environmental laws, industries and production units should allocate 10% of their total area to green space. PGSR has 40 hectares of green space.
The plant has increased output of its wastewater treatment unit to 275,000 liters per hour to use reclaimed wastewater instead of the depleting groundwater resources.
PGSR is equipped with two sulfur recovery units, two purification units with sour water strippers (SWS) and two gas purification units with amine treating units.
SWS is one of the first stages in the wastewater treatment process in refineries. Water streams from throughout a refinery are typically sent to a stripper, which is designed to remove both H2S and ammonia from the water.
To reduce air pollutants, the huge refinery uses natural gas instead of liquid fuels like mazut as feedstock in furnaces and boilers. It has also installed oxygen analyzers on furnaces and boilers to control the combustion process and reduce gas consumption.
