Amir Kabir Petrochemical Company is planning to boost its output by embarking on constructing a major natural gas plant to receive more fuel as feedstock, a company official said.
"As soon as Maroun natural gas liquids (NGL-2300) project comes on stream, AKPC's olefin production will rise from 530,000 tons to 750,000 tons per annum," Houshang Karimi was also quoted as saying by NIPNA, the National Petrochemical Company's news agency.
According to the official, the NGL venture is among an increasing number of initiatives to collect and utilize natural gas burnt off in southern oil and gas fields.
The plan to construct the Maroun NGL Plant, which will be completed in four years, requires an investment of €9 million.
An NGL plant is designed to process gaseous hydrocarbons, including ethane, propane, butane and pentane. When processed and purified into finished byproducts, all of these are collectively referred to as natural gas liquids.
"The venture will create jobs for 2,500 people," Karimi said, adding that the initiative will help AKPC boost its annual production and sale by 2 million tons and 1.2 million tons respectively.
The official noted that feasibility studies of the plan, which lasted for one year, were conducted by domestic consulting firms, yet environmental studies are still in progress in Khuzestan Province.
According to the official, because of not receiving sufficient feedstock, AKPC's volume of production has been about 40% less than the nominal capacity in the last few years, that is why the Oil Ministry consented to the project.
"Close to 7.5 million cubic meters of gas are flared daily in Maroun Oilfield," he said, adding that AKPC intends to not only prevent losses for the treasury but also to convert low-value added natural gas to high value petrochemical commodities that can generate foreign exchange revenues for the country.
Flaring is the burning of natural gas that cannot be processed or sold. The flaring of associated petroleum gases is an important safety measure at many oil and gas production site, as it prevents industrial plant equipment from over-pressuring and exploding. Nevertheless, burning high levels of APG is a major source of pollution.
Reportedly, NGL-2300 output will include 28,000 barrels of liquids that are heavier than ethane as well as 5 million cubic meters of light gases.
--- Dehloran NGL
According to Behzad Mohammadi, the Oil Industries, Engineering and Construction Company's managing director, the delayed Dehloran Gas Refinery (NGL-3100) project has recently gained momentum as the much-needed funding has been made available.
“Operations at the unfinished gas processing plant in Dehloran County in Ilam Province, western Iran, have resumed,” he said.
"Plans are in place to develop the jointly-funded gas processing unit, whose development came to a halt due to financial constraints in three years at an estimated cost of $1.55 billion, which will be invested in two phases."
Mohammadi said without elaboration that resources from the National Development Fund of Iran and OIEC are being tapped to complete the project.
Referring to OIEC's technical capability in undertaking natural gas liquid projects, he said NGL 3100 is the fifth plant undertaken by OIEC.
According to Mohammadi, Dehloran gas refinery will receive 7.6 million cubic meters of APG daily.
