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Asaluyeh

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Asalouyeh (Persian: عسلویه) also transcribed Assalouyeh and Assaluyeh, and sometimes prefixed by bandar, meaning port) is a town in southern Iran, in Bushehr Province. Located on the shore of the Persian Gulf some 270 km SW of the provincial capital of Bushehr, it is best known as the site for the land based facilities of the huge PSEEZ (Pars Special Energy Economic Zone) project. The town itself is of minor significance, although it is common practice to refer to PSEEZ (established 1998) and Asaluyeh town collectively as Asaluyeh. Asaluyeh is located at: (27°30′N 52°36′E / 27.500°N 52.600°E / 27.500; 52.600).

File:Asalouyehdotmap.JPG
Location of Asalouyeh in Iran

Asalouyeh was chosen as the site of the PSEEZ facilities due to it being the closest land point to possibly the largest natural gas field in the world, the South Pars Gas Field. In addition, an existing airport and direct access to international waters via a deep water port were already present. [1]

PSEEZ

The PSEEZ (Pars Special Energy Economic Zone) as it is known has been allocated 100 square kilometres of land at Asaluyeh for the various complexes and facilities. The site is a collection of different plants and refineries (known as "phases") and is administered by the PSEEZ agency onsite.

A total of 27 phases are envisaged (12 gas, 15 petrochemical), plus a mix of light and heavy industry, and associated support facilities such as factories and warehouses. The scale of the project is huge. So far only 18 phases are have either been opened for tender, are under construction or completed.

As of August 2005, US$20 billion dollars of foreign money had been invested in PSEEZ since 1997.

PSEEZ is a workers town - tourism is non-existent. Currently there are no hotels in Asalouyeh, although plans exist to construct a hotel between the airport and the Industrial area. Once completed, the Sadaf International Hotel will consist of 400 rooms in three buildings, on 1 square kilometre of land.

According to Iran's oil ministry, sales of products from PSEEZ could be as much as $11 billion dollars per year, over 30 years.

A water treatment plant is now also operational, producing 5000 cubic metres of fresh water per day.

Mor informations : [www.pseez.com]

File:Pseez1.jpg

Asalouyeh Town

Asalouyeh town is surrounded by PSEEZ, but is still geographically separate and a few minutes drive from the nearest PSEEZ facility. Before the arrival of PSEEZ, the primary industry was fishing, albeit a very small one. Asalouyeh was a sleepy coastal hamlet, on a narrow strip of land between the Persian Gulf and the Zagros Mountains. Poverty existed in the small town, and it remains to be seen how the Asalouyeh town will be affected by the massive influx of workers and related construction at PSEEZ, as it grows around the town. To date it does not appear that Asalouyeh town is undergoing any development as a result. PSEEZ is run by the oil ministry, and has no responsiblities towards Asalouyeh town.

Asalouyeh has a main street, a couple of dozen small shops, and is still a sleepy hamlet in many ways. File:Assaluyeh.jpg

Construction

The PSEEZ is one of the busiest ongoing construction sites in the world. At any one time up to 60,000 workers are onsite, mostly employed in construction of further gas and petrochemical refineries.

Airport

Before the arrival of the PSEEZ, the existing airport was military only, although it now houses a domestic terminal for civilian use as well. The code for Asalouyeh Airport is YEH.

A new purpose built airport is under construction. In August 2005, a government spokesman indicated the terminal had been completed and the new airport would be opening "soon".

July 2006 the airport is open to domestic flights. File:Pseez2.jpg

Port

As of August 2005, piers 1 to 3 were open and able to accommodate vessels of up to 60,000 tons. Further piers were under construction. File:Portpseez.jpg

Plants and Refineries

Any visitor to Asaluyeh will immediately notice the series of Gas and Petrochemical complexes running along the coast, one the largest collection of such facilities in the world. The various plants and complexes currently run for some 12km, and more are being constructed.

A series of gas flares which line the facility are immediately obvious, including one enormous flare in particular, with flames of almost 100 m in height. This flare is visible far out to sea.

  • Phase 1 was a US$770 million dollar development operated by Petropars to produce gas for domestic consumption in Iran, and produces 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day and 40,000 barrels per day of gas condensate.
  • Phases 2 and 3 was a $2 billion dollar development, built by a consortium of Total, Petronas and Gazprom to produce gas for domestic consumption in Iran. It came online in March 2002. It is connected to two offshore unmanned platforms 105km distant, by 2 x 32 inch pipes. It produces 2 billion cubic feet (57,000,000 m³) of gas per day, and 85,000 barrels (14,000 m³) per day of gas condensates.
  • Phases 4 and 5 being built by Eni and Petropars, to produce gas for domestic consumption in Iran. Expected to be completed in 2006, it will be operated by Eni on behalf of Petropars.
  • Phases 6 to 8 being built by Petropars to produce lean gas for re-injection into the Aghajari oilfield, and heavy gas and condensate for export. With a total cost of $2.65 billion, it involves construction of three offshore platforms in addition to the land based facilities. Statoil is developing the offshore platforms while Petropars is developing the land based facilities. A 31 inch pipe will be laid from each platform to the coast.
  • Phases 9 and 10 will, when developed, produce natural gas for export. LG of Korea were awarded the contract to develop these phases, cost is estimated to be $1.6 billion dollars.
  • Phases 11 and 12 will produce LNG, the development contract currently being bidded on by TotalFinaElf and ENI.
  • Phase 13 development will be for LNG production and is being bidded for by Shell and could be producing by 2008.
  • Phase 14 development will be for a Gas to liquid plant, with Statoil and Shell reportedly interested. This could be completed by 2008.
  • Phases 15 and 16 development was awarded to a consortium of companies headed by Aker Kværner of Norway. These phases will produce 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas for domestic consumption plus 1 million tons per year of LPG for export. Cost of these two phases will be $2 billion dollars.
  • Phases 17 and 18 development was assigned to a consortium of Oil Industrial Engineering and Construction Company (OIEC), Iran Offshore Engineering and Construction (IOEC) and Petropars. These phases will produce 2 billion cubic feet (57,000,000 m³) per day of natural gas and 70,000 barrels per day of condensates.

Free Trade Zone

The PSEEZ is a free trade zone. Goods can be brought in duty free, but cannot leave the PSEEZ and enter the rest of Iran. This is to encourage construction within and development of the PSEEZ.

A visa is required to enter Iran for most nationalities, and is therefore needed to visit the PSEEZ. The only exception to the visa requirement is if you visit Kish Island, which allows visitors to enter visa-free.

South Pars Gas Field

Main article: South Pars / North Dome Gas-Condensate field

The field is located in the Persian Gulf.

The field is the biggest gas field in the world, shared between Iran and Qatar, which contains 1900 Tcf ( 53.8 Tcm ) gas in place and 56 Billion barrels of condensate in place in both parts.


The South Pars Field is the name of northern part, which is located in Iranian waters and the North Dome is the name of southern part, which is located in Qatari waters. South Pars Field was discovered in 1990 by NIOC.

Production started from the southern extension of the field, the North Dome in 1989, at daily gas production rate of 800mmscf/d.

Gas production started from South Pars field by commissioning the development phase 2 in December 2002 to produce 1bscf/d of wet gas.


The field consists of two independent gas-bearing formations, Kangan and Upper Dalan. Each formation is divided into two different reservoir layers, separated by impermeable barriers. Therefore, the field consists of four independent reservoir layers K1, K2, K3, and K4.

Iranian sections contains 500 Tcf ( 14 Tcm ) of gas in place and around 325 Tcf ( 9.2 Tcm ) of recoverable gas.

Downstream Industries

Due to the availability of Petrochemicals and their by-products, 10 square kilometres at PSEEZ has been allocated for related industries, such as: [2]

Private companies are also constructing a business park and warehouses.

Internet access and telephony facilities are also available via a Tehran based Internet Service Provider, Pars Online. No other ISP's are present at PSEEZ.

Foreign Involvement

Individual gas and petrochemical plants at Asoluyeh, when constructed, usually involve a partnership with a foreign company.

Due to the embargo in place against Iran by the United States, it is mostly European and Asian companies becoming involved.

These include:

However, the US company Halliburton and American Allied International Corporation, have contracts for and business dealing with South Pars via subsidiaries.[1]

Plans for LNG refining and export have been discussed - but it remains to be seen how this will be accomplished, as most LNG refining technology is US based and therefore subject to export control due to US sanctions.

See also

References

  1. ^ Location assaluyeh.com
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference industries was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Iran: Hyundai in Asalouyeh Gas Plant Contract
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