BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 30
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The corrosion costs for all facilities of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) were on average of $450 million annually for 2 years (from March 20, 2016, to March 21, 2018), Deputy Director of the NIOC, Nouraddin Khaksaran Razavi said, Trend reports citing the company’s website.
According to Khaksaran Razavi, of this amount, about $165 million was spent directly on the corrosion of metal equipment.
He added that $285 million was spent on additional corrosion work.
The deputy director noted that direct corrosion costs were spent on the use of corrosion-resistant substances, chemicals, paints, and coatings.
“Additional corrosion costs have been incurred to stop production or transportation as a result of corrosion, and to prevent wasteful discharges of hydrocarbon products,” he said.
Khaksaran Razavi stressed that the National Iranian Oil Company is currently implementing a plan to reduce corrosion costs.
Iran has 125 oil fields and 59 gas fields. The country's total hydrocarbon reserves are estimated at 836 billion barrels. With available technology and equipment, Iran can extract 239 billion barrels. Thus, 29 percent of the country's hydrocarbon reserves are recoverable, while 71 percent remain underground.