Second unit of Iran’s largest oil processing facility opens in West Karoun
South Azadegan crude processing capacity hits 160,000 bpd: Minister
The Islamic Republic opened on Thursday the second unit of its largest central oil processing facility in the West Karoun region, lifting crude oil processing capacity to about 160,000 barrels per day, after President Masoud Pezeshkian issued the launch order via video conference.
Pezeshkian on Thursday morning officially ordered the operation of the second unit of the country’s largest Central Oil Treatment Plant (CTEP) during an online ceremony, marking a key step in expanding oil processing capacity in the strategic West Karoun fields, president.ir reported.
The CTEP is a strategic infrastructure project of the National Iranian Oil Company designed to provide sustainable capacity for processing, transporting and stabilizing crude oil from the South Azadegan field and neighboring oilfields.
During the ceremony, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said that with the launch of the second processing train at the shared South Azadegan field, total crude oil processing capacity has reached about 160,000 barrels per day.
“The Central Oil Treatment Plant of the shared South Azadegan field (CTEP) is the country’s largest oil and gas processing unit, comprising four processing trains with a total crude oil processing capacity of 320,000 barrels per day, or 80,000 barrels per day per train, along with around 200 million cubic feet of associated gas, part of which is currently being flared due to incomplete processing capacity,” Paknejad said.
He noted that the first processing train of the facility was launched earlier this year, (which began on March 21). “With the commissioning of the second train on Thursday, total crude oil processing capacity has reached around 160,000 barrels per day, while the remaining two trains are expected to come online in the coming months,” he added.
The project serves as a key link between production and development phases in West Karoun and plays a central role in ensuring sustainable and conservation-oriented oil production from shared fields. It is considered the main artery for oil processing and transportation in the West Karoun region and also provides the groundwork for boosting output from other nearby fields.
Spanning 70 hectares, the project focuses on three key pillars: crude oil processing and desalting, gathering and compression of associated petroleum gas, and management and treatment of produced wastewater with reinjection. Its ultimate goal is to achieve a stable processing capacity of 320,000 barrels per day in the main operational phase of South Azadegan.
The CTEP project cost more than $350 million, with 85% of the equipment sourced domestically. Its launch has created 1,500 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect jobs, including 700 positions filled by local workers.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Pezeshkian praised the efforts of the Oil Ministry and engineers involved in the project and expressed hope that the same determination would continue to deliver further results at a similar pace.