Hamid Bovard spoke Saturday at a meeting of the Oil Ministry's council of deputies. Referring to the recent incident on the Phase 14 gas platform in South Pars, he said: "Unfortunately, a fire broke out on this platform. But thanks to the timely arrival of rescue and operational teams, there were fortunately no casualties, and the damage was not extensive."

He said he had inspected the site in person. Operational and specialist teams are now deployed there, carrying out the necessary repairs on the damaged equipment so that the platform can return to production as quickly as possible.

The caretaker oil minister praised the efforts of oil industry staff. "Our colleagues in the operational regions are on the job despite all the difficulties, and are carrying out major work," he said.

Reconstruction Progressing Well

Speaking of his field visit yesterday to the gas refineries damaged in the imposed war in South Pars, Bovard said NIOC and NIGC are carrying out the reconstruction work well.

Noting that the lost gas capacity is gradually returning to the production cycle through his colleagues' efforts, he added: "We hope current production capacity will increase by the end of Azar" (22 December). He stressed the need for continuous follow-up of production and reconstruction plans and asked his colleagues to hold weekly meetings to track progress, so that the programs suffer no delays.

Financing Approvals Secured for Reconstruction

The caretaker oil minister said many efforts have been made to speed up reconstruction and the necessary funding is being secured. Approvals have been issued for financing from banks.

Stressing the need to accelerate reconstruction of the gas refineries, Bovard said executive work on some phases will proceed in three shifts so that operations finish sooner and the facilities can return to production as quickly as possible.

He noted that rebuilding in a few months refineries that took about four years to construct is an extremely heavy task. "For this reason, the efforts of oil industry staff in rebuilding these facilities are highly valuable," he said.

Diesel Consumption Management Plans Ready to Be Sent to Government

On the programs under way to manage diesel consumption, the caretaker oil minister said favorable results have been achieved. A plan has been prepared that his colleagues will present and send to the government for review and approval.

Bovard said implementing the plan could make a significant contribution to managing consumption and increasing refined-product export capacity. "We project that implementing this program will save about 20 million liters per day, equal to 20 percent of diesel consumption, and that this volume will be added to the country's export capacity," he said.

He stressed that revenues from consumption management measures should go back to the oil industry. "If these measures in gasoline and diesel succeed, we should work to ensure that the resulting revenues return to the oil industry itself. This would help cover the costs of development projects and provide the resources needed to develop and transport products and build other infrastructure," he said.