Iran Energy News Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Energy Field Specialized Channel
Related Articles
Iran is one of the most hydrocarbon-rich countries in the world. According to the Iranian Oil Ministry data, nearly 300 oil and gas fields have been explored in the country of which over 40 are gas fields.
Although until recently the Oil Ministry (as the name suggests) was mostly focused on the development of the oil reserves, considering the global shift toward natural gas and the significant rise in the domestic demand, the government started following a new strategy to develop both sectors alongside each other.
As the crown jewel of Iran’s gas industry, the giant South Pars gas field (which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf) was the focal point of the Oil Ministry’s gas industry development programs and over two decades after the beginning of the field’s development, it has nearly reached its full potential and Iran’s gas production from the field is said to have surpassed that of rival Qatar.
Of course, the development of the gas industry’s upstream sector entailed significant advances in the downstream sector as well, so currently only 14 refineries exclusively process the gas recovered from the South Pars phases.
The development of the refining sector in line with the realization of the production goals in the South Pars has today led to great achievements in this area and the production of sweet gas by the country’s refineries is constantly increasing.
On Tuesday (August 18), the Spokesman of the Natural Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Mohammad Asgari announced that the average daily sweet gas output of the country’s refineries has currently reached 703 million cubic meters (mcm), 69 mcm more than the figure for the same month in the previous year.
According to Asgari, the average daily production of natural gas by the country’s refineries stood at 633 mcm in the previous year’s same month.
Implementation of annual overhaul operations in the country’s refineries and the outbreak of the coronavirus did not halt the increase of natural gas production and this growing trend continues, the official said.
Earlier, Masoud Zoroudian, NIGC’s director for coordination and production supervision had told Shana that the refining capacity of the country’s gas refineries increased significantly over the past few years, saying: “Gas processing capacity in the country’s refineries is about 1.03 billion cubic meters per day and gas production in the first three months of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 20-June 20) recorded a jump of 2.2 percent.”
The increase in the processing capacity of the country’s refineries means the increase in the gas supply to the national network, to the industry sectors, and also to the country’s power plants, all of which can lead to economic and industrial development.
The increase in production and the development of the gas industry also means more exports and more revenues for the country in a time when oil exports have been slashed significantly due to the fall in global demand and the U.S. sanctions on the industry.
Now that the South Pars gas field has almost reached its full capacity and the goals of the Oil Ministry in this regard have been realized, the next step would be moving toward the development of the country’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry.
Considering the fact that many of the gas-rich countries around the world like Australia, the U.S., and the rival Qatar, with which Iran shares the South Pars field, are currently considerably advanced in the LNG industry and are earning billions every year from this sector, Iran, too, needs to take necessary measures in this regard.
Qatar heavily relies on its LNG exports and a big chunk of the country’s budget is supplied by its LNG exports, while Iran is only exporting a very small portion of its gas through pipeline to Turkey and Iraq.
Exporting natural gas through the pipeline has severely limited Iran’s export destinations and has also reduced the country’s bargaining power.
Although establishing LNG plants required advanced technologies, but capable Iranian oil and gas engineers and experts have constantly proven that ‘when there is a will, there is a way’, so the government needs to invest more in this area and shift its focus from exploring more fields to developing the downstream sector such as the LNG industry which has been already neglected too much.
