The National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company said the pipelines are critical national projects designed to address energy shortages and enhance the country's energy security.

The Sabzeab-Shazand pipeline, with a capacity of 750,000 barrels of crude oil per day, will play a fundamental role in reducing the country's energy imbalance, said Mohammad Mashkinfam, head of the National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company.

Speaking Friday at the inauguration ceremony for 800 kilometers of new oil product pipelines, Mashkinfam highlighted the launch of the first phase of the sour crude pipeline. The 341-kilometer line runs through the Khuzestan, Lorestan and Markazi provinces. It includes a 102-km section with a 30-inch diameter from Sabzeab to Tang-e-Fani and a 239-km, 26-inch diameter section from Tang-e-Fani to Shazand.

Pumping stations were built along the route in Sabzeab, Tang-e-Fani, Asar, Pol Baba and Razan, with the pipeline ultimately connecting to the Shazand refinery.

Mashkinfam cited the project's main objectives as increasing refinery fuel capacity, ensuring reliable transfer of sour crude to central Iran, reducing the national energy deficit, supporting domestic manufacturers and creating jobs. He said the pipeline's transfer capacity will be gradually increased.

The pipeline was designed and commissioned with a 330-million-euro investment to increase and stabilize feedstock for the Shazand and Isfahan refineries. To power the project, 43 km of power transmission lines, including 210 towers and four electrical substations, were constructed.

Mashkinfam emphasized the project's significant role in job creation, stating that during construction it directly employed an average of 3,000 people annually and indirectly employed 7,000. He also noted that with full compliance with safety and HSE requirements, the project set a record of 3 million person-hours worked without an accident.

The client for both pipelines is the National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company, and the operator is the Iranian Oil Pipelines and Telecommunication Company. The two pipeline projects created 3,500 direct and 7,000 indirect jobs.

The 455-km Bandar Abbas-Rafsanjan pipeline provides key infrastructure to meet growing demand in Iran's central and northern regions.