The first shipment of butane, a form of liquefied petroleum gas, produced in Phase 13 of South Pars Gas Field has been exported from Siraf Pars Port on the Persian Gulf coast, manager of South Pars Phase 13 development project said.
“For the first time, butane from the South Pars Phase 13 refinery was sent to Siraf Pars Port via pipeline and the 12,000-ton shipment of processed butane was loaded to a special LPG tanker,” Payam Motamed was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana.
“The sale of LPG and sulfur to refineries and petrochemical complexes in the South Pars region is a good source for generating revenues for the country in the face of sanctions,” he added.
Butane is one of a group of liquefied petroleum gases. Others include propane, propylene, butadiene, butylene, isobutylene and blends. Butane has a lower energy density but burns more cleanly than gasoline and coal.
According to Motamed, the purpose of developing Phase 13 is to produce 56 million cubic meters of sour gas, 75,000 barrels of gas condensate and 400 tons of sulfur per day and to produce 1.5 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas (propane and butane) and 1 million tons of ethane annually to feed petrochemical units.
During February 2021-22, close to 350,000 tons of LPG have been exported from Siraf Pars Port.
Siraf is the second largest terminal for exporting the output of South Pars Gas Field, built with an investment of $450 million on 360 hectares in Kangan region, Bushehr Province.
Iran's LPG shipments reached 450,000 tons last October compared with 556,000 tons exported in September, largely to Asia and mostly to China.