TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the country is planning to build petrochemical complexes as well as refineries in Jask Port in southern Iran.

The minister made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony for signing several contracts between Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), an NIOC subsidiary, and local firms for building electro-pumps for Goreh-Jask pipeline project, on Monday.

According to Zanganeh, the ministry has issued permits for construction of two refineries with daily refining capacities of 300,000 and 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), the projects which are going to be carried out by the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO) and one of the subsidiaries of Bakhtar Petrochemical Company (Petro-refinery), respectively.

The official also noted that in the next Iranian calendar year (starts on March 20, 2020), Jask Export Terminal will be officially launched by exporting a gas condensate cargo from South Pars.

Zanganeh further noted that $1.8 billion is going to be funded for Goreh-Jask pipeline project of which $700m alone would be spent for developing the port.

He also mentioned the issue of supplying low-sulfur fuel for vessels which would soon become mandatory, saying that Iranian refineries were capable of producing this type of fuel to some extend and would supply their excess demand from the market.

However, he said, if they fail to do so, according to a paragraph in the International Maritime Organization (IMO), ships that fail to get low-sulfur fuel by conventional efforts can use high-sulfur fuel.

NIOC to sign oil contracts with local firms

Also on the sidelines of the same event, Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Masoud Karbasian said the company was to sign nine contracts with domestic companies for oil production enhancement and maintenance projects. 

He said the $1.8b Goreh-Jask pipeline project would entail construction of 5 pumping houses valued at 143 million Euros, 1,000 km of 42-inch pipeline, construction of 20 500,000-barrel storage tanks, construction of Jask oil export terminal, etc. which will all be constructed by relying on domestic forces.

Karbasian said that for construction of each section of the project many jobs would be created in the country, besides tapping the potentialities of domestic producers.
He said currently, 30,000 tons of steel slaps are being produced by Oxin Steel Company and 20 km of the pipeline has been built, so far.

EF/MA