Gas condensates storage facilities with a capacity to store 4 million barrels of condensates will go on stream in Special Pars Economic Energy Zone by March 2017, director of the project in Pars Oil and Gas Company said on Sunday.
“As soon as the utilities, including eight storage tanks, come on stream, South Pars gas refineries will be able to keeping producing non-stop because even if the manufactured gas hydrocarbons are faced with exporting challenges, they can be converted into high value added commodities such as quality gasoline domestically,” Amirmansour Haqverdi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Underscoring the fact that new facilities include eight tanks, each with a capacity of 500,000 barrels, the official added, “Stored gas condensates will be transferred to target destinations via a pipeline and single point mooring.”
According to the official, the new storage network will provide Persian Gulf Star Refinery, Shiraz Pars Refinery and Nouri Petrochemical Plant with 360,000, 120,000 and 125,000 barrels of condensates respectively. Moreover, the much-needed feedstock demand for Siraf and Farzanegan Fars Nikou refineries will be met via the same network.
Pointing to the fact that the initiative will be implemented based on three EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contracts, namely EPC1, EPC 2 and EPC 3, Haqverdi said under EPC1, maintenance utilities, piping, electricity and instrumentation engineering will be designed and undertaken. Furthermore, under EPC2 and EPC3, gas storage tanks as well as a fire fighting storage tank will be constructed.
"Four out of eight storage tanks have already been completed by Machine Sazi Arak Company," he said, adding that Nardis Company will take care of welding operations and provide the construction site with equipment.
Stressing that the whole project has registered a work-in-progress rate of 50%, Haqverdi noted that Pars Oil and Gas Company will make serious attempts to help the plan become operational by March 2017.
"There is a growing potential for Iran to increase its gas condensate exports."
As a byproduct of natural gas or oil production, condensates are excluded from the sanctions when produced from a natural gas field, even though they are routinely mixed with heavier grades of oil later for making fuels.
Iran is seeking to capitalize on sales of oil products such as petrochemicals and condensates. The main buyers of Iranian gas condensates are the same as its traditional oil customers, namely China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Taiwan and Japan. Iran considers gas condensate to be a non-oil commodity, accounting for almost 30% of the country's total non-oil exports.
South Pars is the world's largest gas field, shared between Iran and Qatar, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. It adjoins Qatar’s North Field, which measures 6,000 square kilometers. The field has a capacity of producing 820 mcm/d and 1 mcm/d of gas and gas condensates, respectively.
