TEHRAN- Completion of the South Azadegan processing facilities raised West Karun capacity and transformed oil production.

According to a Mehr News Agency reporter, the South Azadegan shared oil field, as one of the country’s largest and most strategic hydrocarbon reserves, plays a vital and irreplaceable role in energy sustainability, strengthening national production, and increasing foreign-currency revenues. This huge oil field in the West Karun region, because of its hydrocarbon reservoirs shared with the neighboring country, has always been at the top priority of Iran’s oil industry upstream and development projects.

Recent developments in the region show that, despite all pressures, comprehensive sanctions, and geopolitical complexities, completion of the value chain from well to processing facilities has opened a new horizon for a leap in the country’s crude oil production. In this framework, full operation of the Central Crude Oil Processing (CTEP) facility at South Azadegan is considered a major milestone in creating sustainable infrastructure for maximum exploitation of the production potential of this strategic field and has brought the oil industry’s roadmap into an accelerated development phase.

During implementation of the first-phase development plans for the South Azadegan oil field, heavy executive and engineering steps were taken so that the recovery factor of this shared field would increase noticeably. During this foundational phase, drilling, completion, and commissioning operations for 203 oil wells were successfully completed, and the field’s production structure was fundamentally organized. The output of these extensive measures has been tangible and accelerated growth in daily production figures; South Azadegan oil production rose from about 130,000 barrels per day at the beginning of the 14th government’s work to more than 183,000 barrels per day. Also, at the time the project was handed over to the new contractor, total oil production from the North and South Azadegan fields together reached 237,000 barrels per day. This change of course and upward production trend proves the strategic importance of stabilizing engineering mechanisms and maximum extraction from shared reservoirs in West Karun.

Full operation of the Central Crude Oil Processing (CTEP) facilities of the South Azadegan project, with four oil processing trains, has made this industrial complex, with a final capacity of 320,000 barrels per day, known as the largest and most complete crude oil processing center in the entire country. Before completion of the initial trains, trains C and D of the project, which entered the operational cycle in Dey last year by order of the President, played an important role in the initial increase in production; the third train was launched on 29 Esfand 1403 and reached stable production on 24 Ordibehesht 1404, and the fourth train was launched on 30 Azar 1404 and entered stable production on 4 Dey. In the next step, completion of the first and second trains (A and B) was pursued from Bahman 1404, accompanied by the successful installation of two ultra-heavy separators, each weighing 102 tons, with a diameter of 6.8 meters and a length of 33 meters. After pre-commissioning, equipment testing, and coordination of systems, with a short four-day shutdown to integrate the control and safety systems of the first and second trains with the third and fourth trains, permission to introduce oil was issued, and finally on 19 Mehr 1405, the full 320,000-barrel oil processing capacity of this center was achieved.

Completion of the South Azadegan central processing project is not merely a local achievement; it is considered mother infrastructure for the entire West Karun basin. With the operationalization of this center’s 320,000-barrel capacity, the cumulative ceiling of oil processing and exploitation capacity in the West Karun oil fields has risen to an exceptional figure of 820,000 barrels per day. Because of its geographical location and advanced process design, this center plays a fundamental role in the region’s oil transfer, processing, and stabilization systems and provides a reliable and sustainable platform for developing the capacity of other satellite and neighboring fields. Taking these developments into account, overall progress of the South Azadegan project has exceeded 80 percent, and the file for the main section of surface oil facilities has been conclusively completed; an achievement obtained through close coordination among the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company, the Petropars Group, the employer, subcontractors, and the country’s technical and engineering bodies.

One of the brightest operational aspects of the South Azadegan field development project has been the uninterrupted and courageous continuation of construction and engineering activities amid the highly dangerous conditions of the 12-day war and the third imposed war. In circumstances where field threats could have led to stagnation of projects, no mandatory stoppage or decline in oil production occurred, and development activities were pursued with full force. During these difficult days, about 30 drilling rigs were active in various fields under management; they were suspended for only about one week and solely to observe strict safety measures, and then quickly resumed. Even in the area of international logistics, although maritime traffic for supplying a limited number of heavy items such as separators faced short delays, project experts, through optimal risk management, did not allow this issue to block the path of progress; as a result, the first and second trains were completed without major delay, and national production remained stable in a great test.

Development in the South Azadegan oil field has not been one-dimensional, and environmental requirements and optimal management of energy resources are at the center of its designs. The associated gas section is the only remaining step of the South Azadegan CTEP project, and all the strength and focus of executive agents is directed toward its rapid completion. Under this plan, associated gas processing and compression facilities will be commissioned, and according to the official schedule, the first train of the gas section will officially join the operational cycle by the end of the current year. With full operation of the gas processing units, this center will be able to collect 200 million standard cubic feet of associated gas daily and, instead of burning it in flares, send it to the NGL 3200 plant for purification and hygienic and industrial use; an action that, in addition to creating major economic value and feeding downstream petrochemical industries, will leave a very positive environmental impact on the atmosphere of the West Karun region.

With the definitive completion of the first phase of South Azadegan development, the next step has begun with a much broader target. From Ordibehesht (April), the second phase of the project for the entire shared Azadegan field (North and South) entered operational phases, including deep engineering studies, process design, holding major tenders, and supplying heavy drilling rigs, advanced downhole pumps, and modern well-completion equipment. Alongside this field development, a balanced and multidimensional development approach is also underway in other West Karun projects; including the Sohrab shared field, where after revision of plans to reduce damage to the Hour al-Azim wetland ecosystem, official environmental permits were issued and operations continued; or the 435-megawatt West Karun power plant, which, while supplying the 100-megawatt needs of the facilities, has provided about 300 megawatts of surplus and stable electricity to the country’s national grid since 1400. In addition, the doors of foreign investment remain open for continued participation of Chinese companies in fields such as Yadavaran and for pursuing development contracts with Russian companies in the Aban, Paydar Gharb, Cheshmeh Khosh, Dalpari, and Paydar Sharq fields—especially in the area of supplying downhole pumps—placing South Azadegan at the top of a chain of wealth creation, industrial independence, and technological synergy.

MA