Pipe laying work to connect South Pars Gasfield Phase 13 onshore refinery in Asalouyeh to the sixth and ninth Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT 6 and 9) has been completed, the director of Phase 13 development project said.
"To give momentum to Phase 13 development, the refinery's 42-inch pipeline is now linked to the 56-inch IGAT pipeline to pump extra sweet or purified gas to the national grid," Payam Motamed was quoted as saying by Shana.
The refining unit processes 28 million cubic meters of sour or raw gas—natural gas that contains significant amounts of acidic gases like hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide—per day, playing a key role in supplying energy during the winter season.
Motamed said when natural gas pressure increases in IGAT-6, the pipeline automatically transfers the surplus to IGAT-3 and 10.
SP Phase 13 project covers offshore infrastructure, including 38 wells already drilled, two main platforms namely A and B plus two satellite platforms B and D.
Platforms A and C became operational last month and work continues to develop the rest. Each of the platforms, when operational, will produce 14 million cubic meters of natural gas from the joint offshore field. Iran shares South Pars gas field with Qatar.
A consortium of local firms, namely Iran Marine Industrial Company or SADRA, energy conglomerate MAPNA and Petro Paydar Iranian Company, is developing Phase 13, he said, adding that once completed, the phase will produce 56 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.
Expanding Phase 13 is in line with Iran’s plans to raise natural gas output to 1.1 billion cubic meters per day by 2021.
National gas production capacity is over 800 million cubic meters a day, but output has reduced in recent months because of routine overhaul operations of several SP production and refining facilities prior to the winter season when consumption soars.
Supplies from South Pars —550 mcm/d—make up nearly two-thirds of total domestic gas demand.
IGAT is a series of large diameter pipelines built to supply gas from refineries in the south (Khuzestan and Bushehr Provinces) across the country.
IGAT-6 transfers gas from Asalouyeh to Khuzestan Province for consumption in the western regions. IGAT-9 originates in east of Asalouyeh and passes western provinces, namely Kurdistan and Azerbaijan, before arriving at the Turkish border.
