"The two firms have been tasked with manufacturing 50 heavy duty pumps," Touraj Dehghani was quoted as saying by IRNA.
This is the first time 6.2 megawatt pumps are being made with the help of domestic expertise, Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.
“Manufacturing the pumps is as important as laying the vast pipeline and the sooner it is ready, the faster the project will be completed.”
Referring to the pipes, the official said Ahvaz Industrial Pipe Company, Isfahan-based Mobarakeh Steel Company and Khouzestan Oxin Steel Company have come together to produce special steel sheets [API 5L X60 and NACE] for the project, a part of which has been delivered to the sites.
“Six contractors (in the framework of build–operate–transfer contracts) have started welding operations in the related provinces, namely Hormozgan, Bushehr and Fars.”
The pumps are expected to be gradually delivered to the contractors by March.
Financial Constraints
Dehghani said prior to the new US sanctions announced in late 2018, PEDEC had to buy 20,000 tons of steel plate sheets from Germany and China because it did not have the technology to produce it. However, due to the US penalties and financial constraints, local companies indigenized the platform and started manufacturing the pipes.
As per a contract between NIOC and the three firms, the three will supply PEDEC with 550 kilometers of pipes, of which 100 km have been manufactured and are being sent to Bushehr.
Regarding the workforce, he said native workers and engineers in Bushehr, Fars and Hormozgan provinces have priority when it comes to hiring.
The pipeline is being laid to supply a million barrels of oil from Goureh Oil Terminal on Bushehr’s northwestern flank to the west of Jask region off the Sea of Oman. Estimated cost of the project is $2 billion and it is expected to be completed by 2021.
In addition to laying the pipeline, the project includes building 20 crude oil storage facilities, pumping stations and one oil export terminal.
When ready, Jask Oil Terminal will have the capacity to store up to 30 million barrels and export one million barrels per day of crude.
Moving Iran’s main oil export terminal from Kharg to Jask has the advantage that oil tankers need not pass through the narrow and permanently crowded Strait of Hormuz.
The strategic strait is the world’s most important chokepoint through which 20 million barrels of oil pass every day.