TEHRAN- The construction of the first 36-inch offshore oil pipeline of the Jask crude oil export terminal has been completed, the operator of Jask oil terminal project in southern Iran announced.

Vahid Maleki put the total length of the offshore pipeline of the Jask oil terminal at 45 kilometers, including six parts of 36-inch pipelines, and anticipated that the pipeline will be completed on both land and sea by the end of the current Iranian calendar month (February 18), Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) reported.

Last week, Maleki had announced the beginning of the offshore pipeline extension operation for the early-phase of this project.

As the country’s second major oil terminal, Jask terminal is under construction by Pars Oil and Gas Company on 60 hectares of land and with nearly €260 million of investment.

In line with the development of the mentioned oil terminal, a pipeline project, dubbed Goreh-Jask oil transfer project, is also underway which is going to provide Iran with an alternative route for the country’s crude oil exports that are currently carried out through the Strait of Hormuz.

The deputy director of the project in Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC) has stated that the progress of the first phase of Iran’s strategic Goreh-Jask oil pipeline project has surpassed 70 percent.

Making the remarks on the sidelines of visiting the 25th edition of Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining, and Petrochemical Exhibition (Iran Oil Show) on Sunday, Ali Jafarzadeh said that such progress promises that the project will be completed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

Despite the tough condition created by the sanctions and also coronavirus outbreak, this strategic project will be completed at the scheduled time, he underscored.

He announced the supply of more than 96 percent of the parts and equipment of this project from domestic sources and said: "This is an all-Iranian project and a high percentage of items required for this national project is supplied by the domestic companies.”

As announced last month by the managing director of PEDEC, the implementation of Goreh-Jask project by domestic contractors has saved the country over €500 million.

Touraj Dehqani said that the implementation of the project so far has created direct jobs for 8,000 people, while providing indirect job opportunities for over 15,000 people as well.

Dehqani stated that the first phase of this project with a capacity to transfer over 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day will be ready for operation by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.

So far, more than 780 kilometers (km) of pipes have been delivered to the site and more than 400 km of piping has been carried out, the official said at the time.

According to the plan, the entire pipeline, which is about 1,000 kilometers, will be installed, tested, and operational by the yearend, he added.

Goreh-Jask project, which is aimed at expanding the oil transport capacity in the south of the country to one million barrels a day, was inaugurated in late June 2020 by President Hassan Rouhani.

MA/MA