The National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) has compiled a five-year plan to reach self-sufficiency in the production of major oil and gas equipment, said the NISOC supply manager Naser Kheradmand, Shana reported.
"The plan will allow us to manufacture equipment such as turbines, compressors and process pumps according to our needs and specifications," he noted.
Efforts to manufacture BB3 pumps started last year and production is expected to commence within a year.
NISOC aims to start the production of all types of process pumps and gas turbines in the near future. Despite having no domestic gas turbine manufacturer until a year ago, Iranian firms will introduce their equipment and products in the 6th Khuzestan Oil Industry Exhibition in December. Production of close to 1,850 pieces of equipment was undertaken domestically in early 2000, and the volume has surpassed 10,000 pieces over the past 4 years.
The oil ministry recently established a committee to pursue the production of 10 major types of oil equipment.
After that, production of 3 of the 10 types of equipment started last week, including line hangers, subsurface safety valves (SSSV) and mono bores; three of the essential equipment for oil extraction. Safety valves implemented in phases 17 and 18 of the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf were manufactured by foreign partners, but domestic companies are now able to produce this equipment.
Close to 150 gas wells need to be drilled in the South Pars field and Iranian companies can manufacture the drilling equipment such as SSSV and wellheads. A new plant for the manufacture of oil and gas equipment came on stream two weeks ago in Kish Island. The plant known as Kish Well Completion Equipment Factory (KCT) was established in cooperation with a European partner and cost $7 million. It was built to help domestic oil equipment manufacturing in the wake of increasing US sanctions against Iran in the past five years.
The US imposed tough sanctions on Iran to curb the country's nuclear program which it claims is geared to military use. Iran insists its program is peaceful. Iran and P5+1 have been holding marathon talks over the past year to thrash out a mutually acceptable "comprehensive deal."
Saving Costs
Hasheminejad gas refinery in Razavi Khorasan Province has lowered its costs by as much as $9.4 million by turning to domestic production of equipment, said a maintenance director of the refinery Nader Nourbakhsh.
Shahid Hasheminejad Gas Processing Company (SGPC) has turned to domestic production "to reduce costs and cut dependence on foreign manufacturers," he noted. More than 95 percent of the refinery's mechanical equipment is made inside the country and SGPC buys all its industrial valves from domestic manufacturers.
Additionally, SGPC supplies equipment to South Pars Gas Complex in Bushehr Province, Ilam Gas Treating Company (IGTC) and Parsian Gas Refinery in Fars Province.
SGPC is one of the leading manufacturers of equipment for gas refineries, according to Nourbakhsh. "Our engineers have produced several parts via reverse engineering process, and the company has now started to also design equipment."
Reverse engineering is the process of extracting knowledge or design information from anything man-made. It is an analysis to deduce design features from products with little or no additional knowledge about the procedures involved in their original production.
