Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 13 / Trend F.Milad/
Three European and Asian companies have announced their readiness to buy the first pentane consignment produced at the Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) petrochemical unit in Siri Island, located in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, Pana news agency reported.
By commissioning the NGL unit by the end of the current calendar year (March 20, 2012), Iran will save around $1 million per day, ISNA news agency reported.
The project, named Siri Associated Gas Gathering and NGL Recovery Project, was launched in 2003. It is planned to come on stream by the end of the (calendar) year, Pana news agency said.
The Siri NGL project includes Siri to Qeshm pipeline, Siri to Kish pipeline, Siri NGL plant, and Kish gas pressure boost station that are estimated to cost $450 million.
The NGL plant is projected to produce 841 tons of propane, 328 tons of butane, 361 barrels of pentane, and 1,250 barrels of gas condensates per day.
Some $15 billion cubic meters of associated gas is burnt at Iran's oilfields, bringing the country around $3 billion of loss annually.
Since 2001, Iran's annual imports of gas have been more than exports by nearly 71 billion cubic meters on the average, Pana news agency reported. Iran is the second major holder of gas deposits in the world.