Iran’s Newly Opened Refinery Exports First Cargo

The first shipment from phase 13 of South Pars, including 300,000 barrels of gas condensate, was delivered for export, operator of the phase Payam Motamed said on Wednesday.

According to Motamed, the delivery was made on March 11 prior to President Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration of phases 13, 22, 23 and 24.

The $5 billion refinery for phase 13 had already become fully operational, but it was officially inaugurated by Rouhani along with another $50 billion refinery for phases 22, 23 and 24.

Each plant has a capacity to process 56 million cubic meters of gas per day and convert it to LPG, ethane, condensate and sulfur worth $5.5 billion a year at the going market prices, Shana news outlet said. The revenue, it said, will account for 2 percent of Iran’s GDP of some $427 billion.

With their launch, Iran’s daily gas production will be surpassing that of Qatar with which it shares the offshore field, Iranian media reports have said.

The launch will also free up new capacity for exports as Iranian supplies tighten amid rising domestic demand after Persian Gulf Star Refinery came online last month.

Asian customers favor Iran's South Pars condensate for its rich naphtha yield, a stable supply and price competitiveness.

President Rouhani inaugurated 4 phases of the huge offshore South Pars gas field in defiance of Washington’s harsh policies aimed at crippling Tehran’s economy.

During the inaugural ceremony in the Southern coastal city of Kangan on Sunday, President Rouhani officially launched phases 13, 22, 23, and 24 of South Pars gas field, noting that despite all the US pressures on the Iranian nation, specially through the imposition of unilateral economic sanctions, Iranians remain steadfast and resistant and continue to progress.

“Americans did not want us to inaugurate any important projects during the current year, but we made all projects operational on schedule,” Rouhani said.

“Today is a very auspicious day for the Iranian nation, which has dealt strong blows to enemies, because they thought that by imposing sanctions, they would be able to stop all our plans and advances,” Rouhani added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said, "Enemies thought that they would mount such economic pressure on (the Iranian) people that our people would bend the knee in front of superpowers. However, this great and history making nation has demonstrated its steadfastness and resistance at all junctures of its history, especially during the current year, which is nearly finished.”

Noting that “the sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran are sanctions against humanity,” Iran's chief executive emphasized that what Americans are doing against Iran is a crime against humanity, but “America will never achieve its goals.”

“Before being an economic war, sanctions are psychological war through which America is trying to make the Iranians pessimistic about their future … and make them think that as time goes by, their conditions will deteriorate,” Rouhani said.

Saying that production of gasoline in Iran has been doubled since the inauguration of his administration, Rouhani said, “During recent rounds of sanctions, we saw that the United States did not even think about imposing gasoline sanctions on Iran, because it knew that Iran has become self-sufficient in gasoline production. Today, we are also self-sufficient in producing diesel fuel and gas.”

The South Pars gas field, divided into 28 phases, is located in the Persian Gulf on the common border between Iran and Qatar. The field is estimated to hold 14 trillion cubic meters of gas as well as 18 billion barrels of condensates.

The field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which lie in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, better known as the North Dome, are located in Qatar's territorial waters.

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