The oldest Iranian floating oil storage unit (FSU) 'Sourena' was decommissioned after 14 years due to technical problems and dilapidated installations, head of Sourena at the Iranian Continental Shelf Comopany (Falat-Ghare Oil Co.), told ISNA on Thursday.
Sourena had five oil tankers of which the largest had a capacity of 250,000 barrels and the smallest 120,000 barrels of crude oil. The FSU was able to store crude from each oilfield separately. It also loaded and offloaded its cargo simultaneously.
Ahmad Ali Hedayatpour said, "Oil reservoir cleaning operations have started and oil pipelines are being moved to the Soroush and Nowruz oil platforms."
Sourena exported 850 crude cargos from Soroush and Nowruz oil fields during its 14 years in service. It was in 2001 that Sourena carried 500,000 barrels of crude oil for the first time, the official said, adding that 500,000 barrels were shipped every weak via Sourena, the first Iranian floating oil terminal.
According to the oil company, the newly-built Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf) FSU will replace Sourena.
Given the large number of joint oil and gas fields in the strategic region, the major terminals help expedite oil storage and export operations. Iran holds the world's fourth-largest proved crude oil reserves and the world's second-largest natural gas reserves. It holds nearly 10% of the world's crude oil reserves and 13% of OPEC reserves. About 70% of the country's reserves are onshore and the rest mostly offshore in the Persian Gulf.
