"The plant, built by a private company, will help safeguard the environment, which is a top priority for AOGC," Jahangir Pourhang was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry's portal.
Overhaul is also underway to help the company reduce flaring by at least 1.1 mcm a year.
APG is natural gas found with deposits of petroleum. Flaring is the practice of burning natural gas that cannot be processed or sold. Flaring pours methane, ethane and propane into the atmosphere contributing to air pollution, Financial Tribune reported.
Referring to other projects to help protect the ecosystem, Pourhang said using modern equipment like mobile oil treaters and mobile oil separators help safeguard the ecosystem and prevent a large amount of crude oil from burning that accumulates in a pit.
AOGC was among the first firms that signed a contract in 2016 with private enterprise to produce 100 megawatts of electricity per day plus 1,300 barrels of liquid petroleum gas and condensates from flare gas.
As per the deal, the contractor converts gas to value added sources of energy such as electricity, which is an eco-friendly measure that helps reduce air pollution.
According to Hamid Kavian, head of Marun Oil and Gas Production Company, close to 90% of the APG produced by this company is collected and the rest will be collected by petrochemical firms in the region by March.
Maroun, Koupal and Shadegan, all in Khuzestan Province, are the main oilfields operated by MOGPC, a subsidiary of National Iranian South Oil Company.
Value of AMAK
Iran has prevented the flaring of 12 billion cubic meters of APG, a source of global warming and a waste of valuable fuel, since the first phase of AMAK project went on stream in 2008.
AMAK is Iran's largest environmental project in the oil and gas sector, undertaken by the National Iranian Oil Company. It collects APG from oilfields.
Arvandan Oil & Gas Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, manages 13 oilfields, from which it expects to produce 1 million bpd of oil by 2025. These include North Azadegan, Yadavaran, Darkhovein, Sousangerd, Arvand, Jofeir, Band-e-Karkheh, Sohran, Omid, Moshtaq, Khorramshahr, Yaran and Sepehr oilfields.
Iran is among the top three gas-flaring countries after Russia and Iraq. According to a report by the Majlis Research Center, almost 17 bcm of gas is flared and wasted in Iran annually -- $6 billion net loss for the treasury.