Gas condensate delivery to domestic refining complexes has experienced a huge rise in the past few months, the National Iranian Oil Company's director for international affairs said.
"To facilitate condensate—ultra light oil—delivery to domestic refineries, loading the fuel from Shahid Rajaei Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in the southern province of Hormozgan started on July 1," Saeid Khoshrou was also quoted as saying by NIOC's news portal.
According to the official, condensates produced in Khangiran Gas Field in Khorasan Razavi Province and gas fields of Ilam Province in the west are normally used to meet local refining stations' need, yet as the demand increases, NIOC has adopted new strategy.
"To maximize the delivery of low-value added feedstock to domestic firms, NIOC has begun to tap into South Pars condensates that are usually exported," he said, adding that NIOC wants to reduce outbound shipments of condensates and instead sell the fossil fuel domestically for manufacturing goods with higher value added.
South Pars Oilfield is located in the center of Persian Gulf, about 130 kilometers off the Iranian coast and adjacent to Qatar's territorial waters, holding an estimated 7 billion barrels of oil in place.
Khoshrou noted that close to 40,000 tons of South Pars condensates have been delivered to local plants from Bandar Abbas since June.
As soon as the infrastructure is developed in Asalouyeh Port in the Persian Gulf, the state-owned NIOC will use the facility to provide domestic firms with condensates.
"NIOC is ready to increase its condensate output if domestic demand rises," he said, adding that manufacturing units do not need to be concerned about their feedstock irrespective of their high market demand.
According to Mehdi Jamshidi-Dana, a deputy at the National Iranian Gas Company, natural gas refining complexes produced over 237 million barrels of gas condensates in 2017.
"The output level witnessed a 13% growth in 2017 compared with the corresponding period in 2016 when production stood at 210 million barrels," he added.
According to Jamshidi-Dana, condensate output is slated to reach 1 million barrels per day upon the launch of all phases of South Pars and local refineries will be given priority over foreign ones.
