(Thursday, October 11, 2018)
17:04
With the completion of new phases of the giant offshore South Pars gas field, including SP13, SP14, SP 22-24 and SP19, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has decided to establish an export and service terminal in Tombak in Pars II, where eight refinery phases and one liquefied natural gas (LNG) project are located.
With
the completion of new phases of the giant offshore South Pars gas field,
including SP13, SP14, SP 22-24 and SP19, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)
has decided to establish an export and service terminal in Tombak in Pars II,
where eight refinery phases and one liquefied natural gas (LNG) project are
located. The idea is aimed at exporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and
sulfur produced by South Pars. According to manager of oil and gas projects'
logistics at the Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), Tombak will in addition to
exporting products, help provide services to vessels navigating at the port. It
would be able to export petrochemical products from plants in Kangan and the
refined products of the Siraf refineries. With a depth of 37 meters, Tombak
Port is the deepest port in Iran and the Persian Gulf region.
Iran is currently recovering 570 mcm/d of gas from South Pars. Development of South Pars is under way. Iran LNG and SP 11, SP12, SP13, SP14, SP19, SP22, SP23 and SP24 are located in Pars II zone (Kangan) covering 16,000 ha of land.
Moheyoddin Jafari, POGC oil and gas projects' logistics manager,
has talked with" Iran Petroleum" about Tombak and its potential.
How come NIOC has decided to build an export
and service port at Tombak?
As you know, South Pars phases are being completed one after
another and its story will come to an end soon. But SP11, SP12, SP13, SP14,
SP19, SP22, SP23 and SP24 and Iran LNG plant are located in Pars II zone. Some
of these phases came online under the 11th administration and the rest is being
completed. That is why a port is planned to be constructed at Tombak in order
to export LPG from the foregoing phases. Furthermore, sulfur is a byproduct of
sweetening operation in all refinery phases. The refining complexes located in
Pars I zone in Assaluyeh deliver sulfur via the Pars Port Complex. However, due
to the lack of a port to export sulfur produced at Pars II zone, they have to
take a long distance to transfer the sulfur by land. The startup of Tombak port
will facilitate the export of sulfur from the Pars II refineries.
When was the agreement signed for the
construction of this port?
In 2014 an agreement was signed with Iranian contractors for the
construction of the Tombak port and export port under an EPC contract. The
project is now under way. It is expected to come on-stream in 2019. Iranian
companies also did engineering design at the port; however, international
companies were involved in the port engineering section.
Known as the deepest Iranian port in the Persian Gulf with a
37-meter depth, it has three jetties; two LPG jetties for LPG exports having
each capacity to berth vessels carrying 5,000 to 50,000 tonnes of LPG and one
sulfur export jetty able to load 14,000 tonnes a day of sulfur. According to
plans, the LPG jetty is to come online by next March to allow LPG exports.
Is this port designed to export only LPG and
sulfur?
The main mission assigned to this port is sulfur and LGP export;
however, Tombak is an export and service port, which would be able to provide
all necessary services to vessels including container services and bunkering.
Of course, providing services to vessels will be at the discretion of NIOC.
Tombak is the only NIOC port in the Pars II zone. Therefore, it is able to
complete projects and provide any services for the entry of products and
exports. But for the time being, it is only used for sulfur and LPG exports.
However, in the future once Siraf refineries become operational; it may start
exporting refined products. It may also help export petrochemicals from plants
located in Pars II zone.
Could you update us about the supply of
necessary commodities in this port?
The necessary commodities and equipment have been purchased for
the port and the commodities have been moved to stores. There is no problem for
operating different sections of this port. Furthermore, orders have been placed
with domestic manufacturers for most of commodities needed in this port.
Is it the first port in which caisson material
has been used?
Yes, that is true. Generally at Iran's ports, buttress and
topdrive are often used in the construction of jetties, but due to low depth of
water in Tombak Port and due to shortage of suitable stone resources, caisson
concrete materials were used. That is new experience and it is the first jetty
and waterbreak in which such materials are used. The western waterbreak or the
main waterbreak has a cubic structure, whose stone section is complete, while
its caisson section is under construction. The eastern waterbreak is smaller in
size and is totally rock core.
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