“The 40-km-long, 24-inch pipe branches off from the 5th Iran Gas Trunkline [IGAT-5] and will increase gas supply as feedstock to industrial plants, households, power plants and steel companies in the region,” Bahram Salavati was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news agency.
The economic zone currently receives 15 million cubic meters of gas per day via a 30-inch pipeline.
IGAT is a series of nine large diameter pipelines built to supply gas from refineries in the south (Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces) across the country. IGAT-5 transfers sour gas from the South Pars Gas Field’s phases 6, 7 and 8 to Khuzestan.
“Engineers handled the pigging operations of pipeline and it is moving gas from Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Economic Zone to Shadegan,” he said.
“An undertaking of local engineers, the project was completed in 18 months and all its equipment were provided by Iranian enterprises.”
The zone is a key industrial region on the southern flank of the oil province dotted with petrochemical facilities.
Referring to Petzone as Iran’s petrochemical hub, Salavati said that of the total annual petrochemical output (60 million tons), one-third is produced in the southern region.
Stretching over 3,000 hectares, Petzone is located on the northern coast of Persian Gulf in Mahshahr. It was built to promote industrial development, especially in the up- and down-stream sectors by attracting new technologies and creating jobs.
The zone has access to international waters through Bandar Imam Port and is connected to Turkey and Central Asian countries by railroad.