The production and sales of the five main products of Ilam Gas Refinery in the western Ilam Province, namely methane, ethane, liquefied petroleum gas, sulfur and gas condensates, increased by about 86% in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), compared to the year before, managing director of the refinery said.
As Rouhollah Nourian explained, while the production and sale of sulfur had a 5% increase, ethane and LPG output experienced a growth of 284% and %216 respectively last year, the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana reported.
“The sulfur produced in the refinery with a purity of 99.98% is one of the purest and highest quality sulfur produced in the country. It is mainly used in domestic industries,” he said.
“The ethane gas produced by the refinery is provided to Ilam Petrochemical Complex as feedstock last year. Over 1.3 million barrels of gas condensate were produced and sent to the petrochemical plant.
According to Nourian, Ilam refinery injected more than 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas into the national gas grid during last year.
The production of ethane and LPG at the refinery is still having an upward trend, as their output increased in the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 21-June 21).
“Ethane output has increased by 104% and LPG production has risen by 109% compared with the same period of last year,” Nourian said.
During the three-month period, the refinery produced 34,000 tons of ethane, 59,000 tons of LPG, 13,000 tons of sulfur and 339,000 barrels of gas condensate.
Ilam Gas Refinery is of strategic importance, as it is the only supplier of gas in the west of the country and the one that provides feedstock to Ilam Petrochemical Company.
Annually, 130,000 tons of ethane, 230,000 tons of liquefied natural gas, 70,000 tons of sulfur and 1,350,000 barrels of gas condensate are produced in the complex.
The construction of the second phase of the refinery will help increase feedstock from 6.8 to 10.2 million cubic meters and result in the rise of the production of various byproducts.
With the completion of the second phase, the refinery's products, including natural gas for urban and industrial use, sulfur, ethane, gas condensate and liquefied petroleum gas, will increase by 1.5 times. The output of all products is expected to rise 50% by 2025.
