Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.28 / Trend F.Milad/
With the commissioning of a semi-industrial gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility in Tehran on Sunday, Iran is now one of the three countries worldwide which has acquired GTL technology, the IRNA news agency reported. GTL is a refinery process which converts natural gas into gasoline or diesel fuel.
The first Iranian GTL refinery will soon be launched on one of the Persian Gulf islands, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi announced on Sunday. It will have a daily production capacity of 10,000 barrels, the Mehr news agency reported
The minister said the project is aimed at converting natural gas into value-added products such as naphtha, gasoline and gasoil. Earlier in October, he said Iran plans to export higher value refined by-products instead of crude oil, according to the press TV.
"At present, Iran is not only self-sufficient in producing by-products such as gasoline, but is also considering the export of certain products to other countries," the oil minister stated. Currently Iran sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia.
The minister also told reporters on Sunday that phases of 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the South Pars gas field will go on stream in the next Iranian calendar year which begins on March 20, 2012.