Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.28/ Trend F.Milad/
More than 1.3 million tons of gas condensates worth $1.06 billion were exported from the Pars Special Economic and Energy Zone (PSEEZ), south of Iran, in the seventh month of Iranian calendar year (ended October 21), the IRNA News Agency reported.
The exports of non-oil goods and gas condensates from the PSEEZ also hit 2 million tons, worth over 1.5 billion dollars, in the mentioned period.
Comparing to the same time span previous year, the figures show 14 and 5 percent increase in the terms of weight and value, respectively.
PSEEZ is a special economic zone, which was established in 1998 for the utilization of South Pars oil and gas resources. Goods can be brought in duty free, but cannot leave the PSEEZ and enter the rest of Iran. This is to encourage construction within and development of the PSEEZ.
The PSEEZ as it is known has been allocated 100 square kilometers of land at Asaluyeh for the various complexes and facilities. The site is a collection of different plants and refineries (known as "phases") and is administered by the PSEEZ agency onsite.
A total of 27 phases are envisaged (12 gas, 15 petrochemical), plus a mix of light and heavy industry, and associated support facilities such as factories and warehouses.
Iran exported over 10 million tons of gas condensates, worth around $8 billion, in the 12-month period ending August 30, said Pars Special Economy and Energy Zone's managing director said on September 2.
Ahmad Pourheydar told the IRNA news agency that the exports rose by 5 percent in terms of value compared to the figure corresponding to the same period last year.
China, Japan, UAE, India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Turkey were the main destinations for Iranian gas condensates.
Iran exported over 12.2 million tons of gas condensates, worth around $9.1 billion, in the past calendar year, which ended on March 19, Pourheydar said in April.
He added that the exports grew by 16 percent and 43 percent in terms of weight and value respectively.
Energy experts believe that exports of gas condensates from Iran will rise significantly by 2015, the Fars news agency quoted a report by Platts as saying.
Iran's gas condensate exports reached below 200,000 barrels per day during 2010, the report said, adding that the figure would be increased to 400-500 thousand barrels by 2015.
The experts believe that Asian refineries, mainly in China, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand, will boost imports of gas condensates till 2020, the report further said.