TEHRAN - Head of South Pars Gas Complex (SPGC) Gholam-Abbas Hosseini says South Pars refineries are currently supplying 613 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of natural gas to the country’s national network.

In an interview with Shana, Hosseini outlined the complex's performance, including high-quality maintenance, stable gas production and byproducts, collaboration with knowledge-based companies, and the flare reduction project in the thirteen refineries of South Pars.

According to the official, since establishing the South Pars Complex 26 years ago, 2,126 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been processed and injected into the national network.

He also noted that the complex has been able to play a critical role in the country’s economic growth by conducting significant maintenance, implementing innovative measures, collaborating with knowledge-based and domestic manufacturers, sending sweet gas to the national pipeline, supplying feedstock to petrochemicals located in South Pars region, and increasing the volume of exports.

The flare reduction project is one of the most important operational projects this year in the South Pars Complex, Hosseini added.

Regarding the amount of gas received from the South Pars platforms since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20), he announced that over 130 billion cubic meters of gas have been received and entered the refineries of the South Pars Gas Complex.

According to Hosseini, since the beginning of this year, over 113 billion cubic meters of gas have been sweetened and injected into the national pipeline as well.

He also referred to the production of other products from this complex since the beginning of this Iranian calendar year, stating that during this period, over 1.1 million tons of ethane, 139 million barrels of gas condensate, 1.9 million tons of propane, and 370 thousand tons of sulfur have been produced across the refineries of the South Pars Gas Complex.

Hosseini mentioned sending feedstock to the petrochemicals in the South Pars region and the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, noting that through this year, over 2.2 million tons of feedstock have been delivered to the local petrochemicals and over 100 million barrels of gas condensate to the Persian Gulf Star Refinery.

Regarding maintenance, he said that maintenance of all refineries in 2024 started on April 23 and successfully ended on November 7, adding that the primary objective of the maintenance process is to cover all the operational and engineering requirements to ensure stable gas production during the cold season while emphasizing safety.

Hosseini highlighted that this year’s overhaul program included over 22,000 types of fixed equipment, valves, electrical, and instrumentation tools across the South Pars refineries, aiming to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the equipment.

He also mentioned that with the implementation of short-term projects, the gas flare emissions from all twelve refineries combined would be reduced by about 1.2 billion cubic meters annually compared to 2021. He explained that these short-term flare gas emissions reduction projects made good progress by the end of 2023, and it is expected that by completing these projects by the end of this year, the flare gas emissions will drop from 8.7 million cubic meters per day to 5.3 million cubic meters while it is currently at 7.4 million cubic meters per day.

Hosseini stated that following directives from the president and oil minister, activities regarding the purchase, execution, and bidding for flare gas have commenced, and they hope to achieve favorable outcomes this year.

He acknowledged that upon completion of the flare gas selling projects, the emissions would be further reduced by about 900 million cubic meters annually, with projections suggesting flare gas burning could reach about 3 million cubic meters daily.

Hosseini also reminded that project progress reports are monitored in weekly meetings involving the head of the complex and the director of coordination and oversight over national gas production, with solutions proposed for challenges and bottlenecks.

Emphasizing the use of domestic capacity, Hosseini stated that the thirteen refineries of South Pars have achieved a 90 percent utilization rate of domestic production and equipment while supporting knowledge-based companies and Iranian youth, and have registered the highest volume of domestic equipment usage within the Oil Ministry’s subsidiaries.

EF/MA