TEHRAN - Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the country’s biggest plant for collecting and processing of Associated Petroleum Gas (APG) is going to be launched early next calendar year which begins on March 20.

Talking to the state TV on Tuesday evening, Zanganeh said nearly $3 billion has been invested in the mentioned complex, namely Bidboland Persian Gulf Gas Refinery, Shana reported.

According to the official, the plant would operate with a gas processing capacity of 56 million cubic meters per day and would produce 3.4 million tons of petrochemical feedstock.

He also noted that two deals had been struck with the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company and Maroon Petrochemical Company for gathering APG in Wast Karoun fields.

“Once these projects came on stream, the value of their output would exceed $2 billion,” Zanganeh said.

The minister further noted that the NGL 3200 plant for gathering APG is also being constructed in the West Karoun region which would hopefully come online by 2021. The project has so far witnessed 40 percent physical progress.

Associated petroleum gas (APG), or associated gas, is a form of natural gas which is found with deposits of petroleum, either dissolved in the oil or as a free "gas cap" above the oil in the reservoir.

The gas can be utilized in a number of ways after processing: sold and included in the natural gas distribution networks, used for on-site electricity generation with engines or turbines, re-injected for secondary recovery and used in enhanced oil recovery, converted from gas to liquids producing synthetic fuels, or used as feedstock for the petrochemical industry.

EF/