"NIOC will start using Jask Oil Terminal for the first time in 2021 to ship crude to international markets," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by ILNA.
Transforming the port of Jask into a major terminal is a major move to expand oil export capacity, he added, noting that once fully developed, the Jask terminal will have the capacity to store up to 30 million barrels of oil and export 1 million barrels per day.
The terminal is part of a development plan to diversify Iranian oil export zones. The project, estimated to cost at least $2 billion, is expected to be complete within three years, Financial Tribune reported.
According to the minister, Jask will help ease tanker traffic at Kharg Oil Terminal off the Persian Gulf from where more than 90% of Iranian oil is now exported.
"Jask is a strategic site for a variety of reasons, including its proximity to the Makran Coast along the Sea of Oman," Noureddine Shahnazi-Zadeh, the chief executive officer of Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company said. It will allow vessels to load crude without having to move to oil terminals in the Persian Gulf.
Furthermore, moving the main oil export terminal from Kharg Island to Jask will have an added advantage in that Iranian oil tankers will not having to use the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which is used for exports by both Iran and its rivals in the area, including Saudi Arabia.
The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important chokepoint, with an oil flow of 18.5 million bpd in 2016, the International Energy Agency estimates.
A third of the world’s sea-borne oil passes through the strait every day. It is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is only two miles wide in either direction.