Delivering speech at an inauguration ceremony, the minister said, “Today’s projects account for $2.2 billion of the target value, $15 billion.”

The launch of projects would be in line with this year’s slogan “Inflation Control, Production Growth” announced by Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Elaborating on the first phase of the Persian Gulf Hoveyzeh Gas Refining Company inaugurated during the ceremony, Owji added the project has been implemented to collect associated petroleum gas (APG) of joint oil fields.

At present, he continued, around 400,000 barrels of oil are being extracted from Azadegan, Yadavaran, Yaran, and other joint fields, but their APG, also known as flare gas, are burnt off.

Following the utilization of Hoveyzeh project, associated gases of sour oil that are poisonous and damage the environment in Khuzestan Province will be processed, and produced sweet gas will be injected into national grid, the minister explained.

The first phase’s daily APG processing capacity amounts to 250 million cubic feet, said Owji, quoting Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) Managing Director Abdolali Ali-Asgari as saying that the second phase would come on stream with a $1.4 billion investment by mid-March 2024 and the capacity would hit 500 million cubic feet.

Heavy compounds produced by the refinery will be transferred to Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company (BIPC) through a 186-kilometer pipeline to supply its feedstock, he stated.

The minister also pledged that the NGL 3100 plant will be also inaugurated in Ilam Province, western Iran.

Oil output now at 3.1 mbd

Owji said the country’s oil production has now hit 3.1 million barrels per day (mbd), adding the figure will rise by 45,000 bpd, as a new project was inaugurated today by President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi to boost extraction from joint Azadegan oil field.

The project has been implemented after 40 new wells were drilled, completed, and put into operation in the field shared with Iraq.

Based on the master development plan (MDP), the project of Azadegan oil field consists of two stages.

The first phase comprises the drilling and the completion of 206 wells, the installation of overground facilities, 10 manifolds, and two separation plants, and the construction of the Central Treatment Export Plant (CTEP) with a daily processing capacity of 320,000 barrels.

South Azadegan oil field, located in 80km southwest of Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan Province, adjacent to Iran-Iraq border, is a joint field having an area of 765 square kilometers, which is estimated to have 27 billion barrels of crude oil in place.     

NGL decompression units

The minister touched upon today’s opening of NGL 900 and NGL 1000 plants’ decompression units, which would gather APG and provide the Persian Gulf Bidboland Gas Refining Company with feedstock and increase the country’s daily gas output by 250 million cubic meters.

The two units help gather associated gases of East Karoun oil fields.

The contracts of NGL 900 and NGL 1000 decompression projects valued at $1.1 billion each were signed between the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) and the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) in 2018.

The Persian Gulf Bidboland Gas Refining Company, a PGPIC affiliate, agreed to implement and invest in the projects to enjoy sustainable supply of feedstock.