NIOC: 12% of Iran’s crude processing allocated to private sector under partnership model
A senior National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) official announced on Sunday that 12% of the country’s crude oil processing capacity had been allocated to the private and non-governmental sector through rapid-deployment modular refinery projects — known as “skid-mounted” units — under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Amir Moqiseh, the director of investment and business at NIOC, told SHANA that crude processing unit contracts used to be signed under traditional engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreements, which typically spanned three years but often took more than five years to complete. He cited the Central Processing and Export Terminal (CTEP) at the South Azadegan joint oil field and the central processing facility of Ahvaz as examples.
Under the new PPP framework, skid-mounted processing facilities can be built in less than two years, Moqiseh said. These contracts have a 10-year duration, and state entities are required by law to assign eligible projects to private investors through public-private partnership arrangements, he added.
“In the first phase, public-private partnership contracts for processing 115,000 barrels per day of crude oil from four oilfields were awarded to private investors," according to the official.
“In the second phase, six additional contracts totaling $1.671 billion were signed for processing 315,000 barrels per day from six other oilfields.”
In total, 430,000 barrels per day of crude processing capacity has been allocated through skid-mounted PPP contracts — 190,000 bpd dedicated to production enhancement and 240,000 bpd to production maintenance and oil quality upgrading, he said.
“With the implementation of skid-mounted refinery projects under the PPP model, 12% of the country’s crude oil processing is now carried out by the private and non-governmental sector,” Moqiseh said.
Moqiseh also noted that NIOC has signed PPP-based guaranteed-service purchase agreements with six private companies for the supply of 20 land-based drilling rigs, each with 2,000 horsepower. Under the contracts, the companies are required to procure the new rigs from abroad within six months.