Iran mulls new oil export terminal in Jask

Rasa - Iran’s port city of Jask in the southern province of Hormozgan will turn into the country’s second crude oil export terminal in the near future, a high-ranking Iranian official says.

News ID: 733

Date: 29 March 2014 - 10:56

Rasa News Agency reports - “Currently, Kharg [island] is regarded as our first [oil export] terminal in the Persian Gulf and in the future, Jask will become our second terminal in the Sea of Oman. In this respect, a pipeline running for more than 1,200 kilometers will transfer Iranian crude oil to the coasts of the Sea of Oman,” said Akbar Torkan, a top aide to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The Iranian official also stated that Iran Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has ordered the construction of a pipeline to carry Iranian natural gas to Jask, situated about 1,690 kilometers (1,050 miles) south of Tehran.

Torkan further noted that part of the natural gas transferred to Jask will be exported to the Persian Gulf kingdom of Oman, while the rest will feed petrochemical and steel industries in the coastal region.

On March 12, Iran and Oman signed a contract under which the Islamic Republic will supply the Persian Gulf state with 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.

The pipeline and related infrastructure, estimated to cost around USD 1 billion, will be entirely funded by Oman, according to Iran’s oil minister, and the payback for Oman will come through revenues generated from the sale of the gas.

The Iranian oil minister says the gas will come from Iran’s giant South Pars gas field, and the pipeline would branch off the pipeline which is planned to export gas to Pakistan.