“Oil and derivative supplies to different regions between March to December last year included gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and kerosene,” Qasem Arabyar Mohammadi was quoted as saying by ISNA Monday.
IOPTC is in charge of transporting crude oil and byproducts. It is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, according to Financial Tribune.
“There has been no serious incident in IOPTC pipelines in the 9-month period," he said, adding that pipelines are monitored 24 hours a day.
In general, oil is propelled through the use of centrifugal pumps, located at the originating station of the line and then at 30 to 160 kilometer intervals along the line. Transport speed depends upon the diameter of the pipe, the pressure under which the oil is being transported, the topography of the terrain and viscosity of the oil.
The pipeline which has extended by more than 7,000 km over the last four decades is now 14,000 kilometers.
The grid moved 22 billion liters of crude and petroleum products in 1979. Today the figure is 120 billion liters per annum.
The official said the company uses means such as intelligent pigging of pipelines, controlling metal corrosion by using cathodic protection technique and regular inspections of installations to reduce the likelihood of accidents, theft and enhance safety.
“Repair and renovation of pipelines is carried out on a regular basis for sustainable and safe delivery of crude oil and byproducts.”
Referring to installations in Tehran Province, he said the main pipelines include the 14-inch Ray-Tabriz, 18" Ray-Qazvin- Rasht, 22" Ray–Shahroud and 16" Ray-Sari.
The company is also responsible for feeding power plants with diesel in Tehran, Alborz and Gilan provinces when they face gas shortages that is the main feedstock.
He noted that with the rise in gas production in South Pars Gas Field off the Persian Gulf and increase in gas supply to industries and power plants (except during winter when gas delivery to power stations and industries is limited), the volume of diesel and mazut supply has gradually declined during the last three years.