Ali-Akbar Hafezinia made the remarks Wednesday during a visit by representatives of the Ministry of Petroleum, the National Iranian Productivity Organization, the Planning and Budget Organization, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance to the Gachsaran 1 booster station. He said the initial designs of Gachsaran’s booster facilities date back decades and that some projects were halted at various times, including during the Iran-Iraq war.

Hafezinia said the booster stations in Gachsaran are currently configured with “two operating trains plus one standby train” to collect associated gas. After being separated from crude oil, the gas enters low-pressure units and is then sent for processing or reinjection into reservoirs.

Explaining the production process, he said that in the past, some associated gas that could not be processed was compressed to about 150 bar and reinjected into reservoirs to prevent pressure decline. He said the practice played a key role in maintaining well production and avoiding technical problems.

Hafezinia said oil production at the Gachsaran field has become more challenging since the mid-1990s, with operations growing more complex and costly than in previous decades. About 80% of oil production in fields operated by the company, including Gachsaran and Bibi Hakimeh, depends on gas injection, he said.

He said the Petroleum Ministry’s “No Flaring” initiative aims to extinguish flares and prevent the burning of associated gas. The first project under the initiative at the Gachsaran Oil and Gas Production Company has been brought online by the Persian Gulf Holding, he said.

At the Gachsaran 1 station, between 8 million and 15 million cubic feet of associated gas are collected daily, Hafezinia said, adding that other projects are at various stages of implementation.

He also said that with several fields transferred to the private sector and plans to collect about 270 million cubic feet of gas in southern regions, completion of the projects is expected to gradually shut down flares and prevent the waste of resources.