Baku, Azerbaijan, May 7
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says the country will stop exporting gas condensates.
Currently, construction of eight small scale refineries with a total capacity of refining 480,000 barrels of gas condensates is underway. Once the refineries come on stream, the country will stop exporting gas condensates, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Zanganeh as saying on May 7.
In the next three years, gas condensate production capacity will increase to 1.1 million barrels per day, he added.
On May 5, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Kazemi said Iran plans to transfer the construction of eight small-scale refineries to the private sector.
Engineering and infrastructural works will be done by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company and the rest will be done by the private sector, Iran's Shana news agency reported.
The eight refineries will be established at South Pars Special Energy Zone, he said.
On April 8, Zanganeh said Iran plans to increase crude oil and gas condensate production capacity to 5.5 million barrels per day in four years.
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.
The report indicates that the country increased condensate export volume from 195,000 barrels per day during the 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.