Operations to expand pipelines are underway with the aim of accelerating fuel supply across the country, the Iranian Oil Pipeline and Telecommunications Company’s managing director said.
Giving a breakdown, Arsalan Rahimi added that five new pipelines are about to become operational, namely Nain-Kashan-Rey pipeline, Bandar Abbas-Rafsanjan pipeline, Tabriz-Khoy-Urmia pipeline, Shahzand (in Arak, Markazi Province)-Rey pipeline and Ahvaz-Rey, the Oil Ministry’s news portal reported
The construction of new pipelines to transfer petroleum products to southern oil terminals tops the NIORDC agenda, as this approach has priority over other means of supply such as using tanker trucks.
According to the official, a new pipeline has been designed to transport refined oil products, especially Euro-4 gasoline, from the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Bandar Abbas to Tehran and other cities in the central and northern regions.
“In the absence of pipelines to transport oil and petroleum byproducts, the Iranian Oil Pipeline and Telecommunications Company would need a large fleet of fuel trucks to distribute close to 130 billion liters of crude and its derivatives per annum,” he said.
"Moving oil derivatives by road doubles the risk of accidents. The transfer of each liter of oil and petroleum byproducts by pipeline costs the company 0.1 cent, while delivering the same volume by trucks will increase expenses by 10 times.”
Rahimi noted that in terms of energy use, road transport is the least efficient, adding that the approximate cost of moving a barrel of oil by road is 10 times more than the pipeline.
Data released by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company show trucking oil has a higher fatality rate compared to other means of transportation, such as railroads and pipelines.
Road transport for transporting oil and other products remains crucial due to the lack of rail infrastructure. But this mode is also the riskiest compared to other supply systems and poses the biggest threat to human life, economic cost and the environment.
IOPTC, a subsidiary of NIORDC, is in charge of transporting crude oil and petroleum products across the country.
No Serious Issues
There was no serious issue regarding our pipelines in the last decade, Rahimi said, adding that the pipelines are monitored 24/7.
The pipelines, which have been extended by nearly 7,000 km in four decades, now stretch over 14,000 kilometers.
The grid moved 22 billion liters of crude and petroleum products in 1979 and currently hauls 128 billion liters per annum.
“An estimated 67 billion liters of crude oil and petroleum byproducts have been transported via pipelines since the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 20, indicating a 6% rise compared with the same period of a year ago,” he added.
According to the official, around 33 billion liters of crude and 30 billion liters of derivatives, including gasoline, were transferred through pipelines last year in the six-month period, yet the figures reached 35 billion liters and 32 billion liters respectively in the current fiscal year.
Close to 14,000 km of oil pipelines are up and running in the country, of which 11,000 km were laid in the last four decades.
