TEHRAN- The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed the first deal on flare gas recovery and utilization with a consortium comprising France’s Sofregaz Company and Iran’s Sanat Sazeh Samin Company in Tehran on Wednesday.

The deal valued at €41.857 million to be funded by NIOC is on recovery and utilization of about half million cubic meters of flare gas in the second refinery of South Pars gas field (phases 2 and 3) in southwest Iran. The project’s implementation time is scheduled to be 24 months and it will become operational in six months.

 ‘To be a reference in region’

Addressing the signing ceremony of the deal, Yann Aubry Lecomte, the managing director of Sofregaz Company, expressed his happiness about this project and said: “We are very happy to be in this project because it is a project for the next generation and we are very happy to participate in it. It is a very important project that we are sure will be a reference in the region.”

“Three years ago we began the hard work with our partner Samin and we found the collaboration on this project very fruitful”, he said and announced that the purpose of the project is to recover at least 25 percent of the flare gas.

“We are very happy for enjoying the economic advantage, the environmental benefits and the best new technology as gas engineering to recover the flare gas”, the French director further underlined.

Sofregaz is a worldwide recognized player in the gas market, specialized in high level services covering the full chain of natural gas: field gathering, treatment, transmission, underground storage, liquefaction, and degasification.

‘Complete transfer of technology’

Addressing the same ceremony, Kourosh Ahanj, the managing director of Sanat Sazeh Samin Company, said technology will be completely transferred to the Iranian side in this project.

“The cost of project will be returned within one and half years, so it will be a very feasible project for the country”, he also highlighted.

Sofregaz started its cooperation with Iran during the sanctions time and this cooperation has been continuous over the past three years, Ahanj noted.

 ‘$500m for flare gas recovery in other South Pars refineries’

In another part of the ceremony, Mohammad Meshkinfam, the managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) which is in charge of implementing South Pars development phases, said that his company has already implemented about $70 billion worth of projects which is planned to reach $90 billion.

“Of the rest $20 billion, we will invest about $500 million for flare gas recovery in the other 12 refineries of South Pars in a bid to remove the flaring problem in the region”, he added.

Reducing industrial pollutants is an issue under the spotlight in most of the country’s upstream projects and it is one of the serious concerns of the Iranian officials, Meshkinfam stated.

Fortunately, in the past two years and after the implantation of Iran’s nuclear deal (known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) many fruitful measures have been taken in this due that today’s deal is one of their results, he explained and said: “It is hoped that it will be a beginning for the other South Pars phases and we will apply the flare recovery system in 13 refineries of the region.”

“Our planning for South Pars refineries is no flaring, but unfortunately because of the sanctions and lack of cooperation from the international companies, our repair operation faced some challenges during the sanctions time. We hope that now after the sanctions there will be good cooperation between the manufacturers and developers in a way that the flaring problem will be resolved noticeably”, the POGC managing director concluded.

South Pars is a giant gas field Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf. It is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight percent of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.

PHOTO: Sofregaz Managing Director Yann Aubry Lecomte (1st sitting L), Sanat Sazeh Samin Managing director Kourosh Ahanj (1st sitting R), POGC Managing Director Mohammad Meshkinfam (1st standing R), and NIOC Deputy Director for Engineering and Development Gholamreza Manouchehri (1st standing L) / Photo: Mojtaba Mohseni (NIOC)