Iran opens large energy port on Persian Gulf

Iran’s Oil Ministry has brought online a major port on the Persian Gulf coast to expedite exports of petroleum products from the giant energy hub of South Pars.

The Siraf Exports and Service Port was inaugurated on Sunday upon an order by President Hassan Rouhani.

According to Press TV, the port, located in the southwestern Province of Bushehr, has two wharfs which will be dedicated to exports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and sulfur. The products will be directly supplied from nearby refineries that run on natural gas pumped from the South Pars, the world’s largest gas reserve which is shared between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.

A report by the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana said pipelines linking five South Pars refineries to Siraf would allow exports of 5,000 cubic meters per hour of cold LPG from the port which is one of the deepest in the region.

Construction of the port began in 2014 by Khatam Headquarters, a major engineering energy company run by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Shana’r report said that more than $350 million has been spent on the port, adding that the project will create 200 permanent jobs in the region.

As the port came on line, President Rouhani also announced the end of development works at Phase 14 of South Pars with the rollout of few remaining installations.

Iran has spent $2.4 billion to fully develop Phase 14 over the past 11 years. That means that the country has built out all 28 phases of the giant gas field except for one where works stalled in 2018 because of pressure on foreign contractors.

Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Sunday that production from Phase 11, which is now being developed by a domestic contractor, will begin before March 2022.

ME