South Pars’ sixth refinery is expected to undergo an overhaul in October to help stabilize gas output in Asseluyah, according to Tehran Times. 

Operations on the sixth refinery will be completed in 2021 and will focus on upgrading the strategic indicators in the fields of  production, environment and management. Ahmad Valipour, Managing Director of South Pars’ sixth gas refinery, has stated that the feedstock supplied to the refinery will increase by 42% by March 2021.

The overhaul plans can be broken down into two parts. Firstly, there will be a focus on supplying the feedstock through a marine pipeline of the South Pars phase 16 of development. Secondly, there is the plan to decrease the frequency of gas flares which will have the dual benefit of increasing refinery output and reducing the environmental impact of the refinery.

“The planning has been made in a way that the sixth refinery will not have major repairs in 2021 and we will see an improvement in the accessibility and operational efficiency of the refinery in the near future,” Valipour noted.

As the world’s largest gas field, South Pars is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about 8% of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.