Baku, Azerbaijan, April 8
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran plans to increase gas condensate refining capacity by 500,000 barrels.
Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on April 8 that details of the plan will be announced by the end of the next month of the current Iranian calendar year (May 21), Iran's IRIB reported.
Zanganeh, the Iranian oil minister, added that eight refineries, each with 60,000 barrels refining capacity per day, will be established at South Pars Special Energy Zone.
Iran will increase crude oil and gas condensate production capacity to 5.5 million barrels per day in the next four year, Zanganeh said.
Iran has exported on average 504,000 barrels of gas condensate per day since achieving an interim nuclear accord with the Sextet powers in November 2013.
Iran Custom Administration released a 229-page detailed statistics about the country's trade turnover during last Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20.
The report indicates that the country increased condensate export volume from 195,000 barrels per day during first eight months (March 20, 2013 to November 20, 2013) to 504,000 barrels per day during the last four months of Iran's calendar year, which covers November 21, 2013 to March 19, 2014).
Iran's average condensate exports are 258 percent more than before the nuclear deal.
The U.S. and EU imposed tough sanctions over Iran's banking system as well as whose which targeted oil and petrochemical products exports in mid-2012, but some of sanctions, including petrochemical-related ones and insurance services for oil tankers have been eased due to nuclear deal obtained in November 24 and took effect on January 20.
Iran exported about 12.873 million tons of condensate during last Iranian calendar year, indicating a 32.74 percent increase compared to the previous year and even is more than pre-sanctions level. Iran's condensate exports before the West's sanctions were about 269,000 barrels per day, which increased to above 294,000 during last year on average.
Gas condensate is a type of light crude oil, which is extracted mostly from gas fields.
Iran's revenues from condensate exports reached $10.295 billion during last Iranian calendar year, indicates 15.93 percent increase, based on Custom reports.