Iran 3rd train of South Pars refinery goes operational

The third train of the South Pars phase 14 refinery has gone operational, according to the operator of the phase 14 development project, Mohammad-Mehdi Tavasoli-Pour.

Tavasoli-Pour told Shana that the fourth and last train of the refinery is also scheduled to be put into operation by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.

The first train of the phase 14 refinery went operational in mid-March 2022 and the second train was inaugurated in late November last year.

Phase 14 development is aimed at producing 56.6 million cubic meters per day of rich gas, 75,000 barrels/day of gas condensate and 400 tons/day of sulfur, and 1 million tons/year of liquefied petroleum gas and one million tons/year of ethane to be fed to petrochemical plants.

South Pars Phase 14 Refinery can be considered the final refinery to be completed in the South Pars complex. Before the construction of this refinery, 12 refineries received gas from the offshore platforms of the field and processed it.

However, after the inauguration of four offshore platforms of phase 14, the need to create more refining capacity in this complex was felt more day by day. Accordingly, the 13th government has put it on the agenda to complete the South Pars Phase 14 refinery by the end of the current Iranian calendar year and make it fully operational.

South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf water, is divided into 24 standard phases of development in the first stage. Most of the phases are fully operational at the moment.

The huge offshore field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, called North Dome, are situated in Qatar’s territorial waters.

The field is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about 8% of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.