Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated the onshore refining facilities of phases 13 and 22-24 of the supergiant South Pars gas field in Assaluyeh, southern Iran.

Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh also accompanied the president in the ceremony that was held in the southern city of Assaluyeh where the refinery is located on Sunday.

Each of the phases are being developed for production of 56 mcm/d of natural gas, 75,000 barrels/day of gas condensate and 400 t/d of sulfur. The phases are also expected to yield 1.05 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas (propane and butane) and 1 million tons of ethane to feed petrochemical plants annually.

The items produced at the phases are valued at roughly $5 billion per year.

Iran has invested $10 billion in the two megaprojects which exceed 2% of the country's gross domestic product.

By inauguration of the projects, for the first time, Iran’s gas recovery from South Pars joint gas field exceeds that of Qatar. The two countries share the field in Persian Gulf waters.

Along with opening the two megaprojects, the president also launched gas metering systems of South Pars refineries (Metering), the Mercaptan Production Plant in Assaluyeh, and the strategic Assalouyeh-Kangan Ethane Pipeline via video conference.

About the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)

Since 1951, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has been directing and making policies for exploration, drilling, production, research and development, refining, distribution and export of oil, gas, petroleum products.

NIOC, with a vast amount of oil and gas resources, is one of the world’s largest oil companies. At the present time, it is estimated that the company holds 156.53 billion barrels of liquid hydrocarbons and 33.79 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.

With advances in technology and increasing complexities of economic and political relations, NIOC has risen to a privileged status. Therefore, national and regional policies and cooperation with industrial countries in the provision in the supply of energy and stabilizing global oil markets are on the agenda of NIOC. On the verge of the fourth decade of the Islamic Revolution, oil industry workers have every reason to be proud of their achievements before the noble people of Iran, and they pride themselves on having learned the lessons of self-assurance and dignity.

NIOC, in accordance with Article 44 of the Constitution, gives authority to different sectors, while supervising oil industry activities. The company has taken major steps toward establishing business enterprises, funded financial resources for development, helped to update technologies for exploration, drilling and production with reliance on the knowledge of Iranian experts.

NIOC consists of seventeen production companies, eight technical service companies, seven managements, six divisions (administrative units) and five organizational units.