“Oil and gas are national wealth and we should make the optimum use of this blessing in order to develop the country,” Ahmadinejad said in the inauguration ceremony in Siri Island on Thursday.
The Iranian president added that because of its advantageous location, the Siri Island would turn into a center for exporting gas.
Praising the progress of the country’s oil industry, Ahmadinejad said Iran must reach a point where it can design and implement international projects.
The plant, which went onstream on Thursday, will produce natural gas liquids (NGL) and when fully operational, would on average collect 100 to 104 million cubic feet per day (mcfpd) of dry gas, thus preventing associated petroleum gas from being flared.
The NGL plant will also produce 1,500 barrels per day (bpd) of pentane, 4,000 bpd of butane, 1,400 bpd of gas condensate, and 8,000 bpd of propane.
Several Asian and European countries have expressed readiness to purchase condensate and gas liquids from the Siri plant, despite oil and gas sanctions against Iran.
On October 15, 2012, the European Union announced a package of sanctions against Iran, which focuses on Iranian banks, trade, and gas exports.
The US Senate also approved new sanctions against Iran's energy, port, shipping, and shipbuilding sectors on November 30, 2012, in a bid to mount economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.
The illegal US-engineered sanctions have been imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
press tv/281
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has inaugurated the largest associated petroleum gas (APG) plant in the Persian Gulf, built on the southern Iranian island of Siri to produce condensate and gather associated gas.
News ID 184238
