Iran Gas condensate exports from the South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf during the first six months of the current fiscal to September 21 declined by almost half to reach 4.6 million tons, said the head of customs at Pars Special Economic Energy Zone.
Gas condensate is an ultra light type of oil found in the Persian Gulf gas fields.
According to customs data, the value of gas condensates shipped from PSEEZ customs, accounting for 10.4% of the total non-oil exports in the period, stood at $2.4 billion, indicating a 46% decline compared with the six months in the previous year, ISNA reported on Sunday.
The news agency said last year's export during the same period amounted to 8.6 million tons worth $3.3 billion.
South Pars is the world's largest gas field shared between Iran and Qatar. The giant deposit, which is being developed in 24 phases, accounts for almost two-thirds of Iran's natural gas output.
Domestic condensate output is slated to reach 1 million barrels a day after all the phases come on stream. Authorities have said they want to reduce outbound shipments of condensates and instead use fossil fuel for manufacturing goods with higher value added like gasoline in Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Hormozgan Province.
Moreover, South Korea, one of Iran’s top condensate customers, has not placed any orders for three consecutive months due to the US reimposition of sanctions.
Reportedly, the Trump administration is in the midst of an internal process of considering waivers on sanctions called SRE waivers, or significant reduction exemptions.
