According to NIGC, Tavakoli said attacks on South Pars gas facilities on March 17 damaged the third, fourth, fifth and sixth refineries, taking about 230 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of gas-processing capacity offline — equivalent to roughly one-third of the country’s gas output at the time.

He said an early-production program was launched alongside safety measures and debris removal to partially compensate for the lost capacity. The program made use of available capacity at other South Pars refineries and facilities elsewhere in the country.

 Nearly 100 mcm/d restored

Tavakoli said the first phase of the early-production program initially targeted four phases and the restoration of about 106 mcm/d of capacity.

“So far, three phases have been brought back into operation. While their combined commitment was about 94 mcm/d, nearly 100 mcm/d of capacity has actually been restored through the program,” he said.

Tavakoli also announced the establishment of an executive task force to oversee the reconstruction of the damaged South Pars refineries. The task force held its first meeting on April 6 and is responsible for approving implementation strategies, determining financing models, managing and monitoring reconstruction, reviewing contractors’ proposals and issuing permits within NIGC’s authority.

He said reconstruction responsibilities had been divided between the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and NIGC, with NIOC responsible for the third and fifth refineries and NIGC overseeing the fourth and sixth.

Although refinery construction is not among NIGC’s primary responsibilities, Tavakoli said the company had been assigned the fourth and sixth refineries because of its technical expertise and operational experience at the facilities, allowing reconstruction to proceed more rapidly.

 Refineries to return in stages

The deputy oil minister for gas said the first complete gas train to return to operation this year will be Train 3 of the sixth refinery.

It will be followed in stages by Train 4 of the fourth refinery, Train 1 of the fourth refinery and then Train 1 of the sixth refinery, he said.

Tavakoli said the reconstruction task force has held 24 decision-making meetings. Debris removal operations at the sixth refinery were completed about two weeks ago, he added, noting that the current program goes beyond reconstruction to include rehabilitation, addressing some longstanding issues and improving the efficiency of the units.

On financing, Tavakoli said limited domestic resources had prompted the use of investment and foreign financing models. Contracts are being pursued under EPCF arrangements, covering engineering, procurement, construction and financing.

The NIGC chief also said management dashboards had been established to continuously monitor reconstruction. Early-production and reconstruction progress is being tracked daily, while key actions, production status and financial resources are reported weekly.

“This system will ensure that any challenges or deviations are quickly referred to NIGC’s executive task force or the Oil Ministry task force for decision-making,” he said.