“A pumping station, which has the capacity to transfer 750,000 barrels of oil per day, has been renovated and launched in the city of Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province,” Bijan Alipour was also quoted as saying by the National Iranian Oil Company’s official news website on Monday.
"The launch of the major pumping station has made it possible to put three 100,000-barrel stations and another with a capacity of 450,000 barrels on standby to ensure the sustainable supply of oil," he added. Pumping stations are deployed at long pipelines with large diameters to help increase the flow of crude oil and petroleum products.
According to the official, in the past few years, none of NISOC’s pumping stations was on standby due to the dilapidated installations, which could create problems for delivering feedstock to refineries and exports, Financial Tribune reported.
NISOC, as the largest subsidiary of Iran's state oil company, is responsible for developing 65 oil and gas fields in the south, containing some 330 billion barrels of oil reservoirs and nearly 12 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
Iran’s oil exports stood at 2.3 million barrels per day during the first four months of the current fiscal year that started on March 21, higher than its average volume over the past year.
Noting that pumping stations in Omidiyeh are working well, Alipour said that a pumping station in Goureh, Bushehr Province, has been renovated and launched a month ago, while another station at the site is on standby.
Touraj Dehqani, the managing director of Petroleum Engineering and Development Company, has told Shana that the capacity of pumping station in West Karun Block is due to be increased further, which will boost the oil transfer capacity to Bahregan oil region in the Persian Gulf.