Indigenizing Oil Industry Equipment Making Progress

“The parts include control valves, impeller valves, pumps, filters, hoses and connectors, gas and air compressors, and turbines among others,” Hamid Izadi was quoted as saying by Energy Today website.

The company operates 11 oil and gas fields in five provinces in the south and southwest and produces 235 million cubic meters of gas per day, Financial Tribune reported.

Estimates show the gas fields it operates hold a total of 3.7 trillion cubic meters of in-place gas, some 2.7 trillion cubic meters of which are deemed recoverable.

The oil fields operated by the company hold 425 million barrels of crude oil reserves, of which 12 million have been extracted.

Another active company in the sector, National Iranian South Oil Company, successfully indigenized technology for producing 1,000 plus oil equipments in 2019 jointly with the private sector.

NISOC has been pursuing a program for supporting domestic producers in the key oil industry.

More than 12,000 parts and equipment used in the oil industry have been indigenized by the NISOC.

Machinery and equipment for the oil industry, which in the past were imported, are being manufactured domestically by private companies in collaboration with knowledge-based firms and state organizations, especially the National Iranian Oil Company.

After the US imposed new economic sanctions that resulted in steep increases in currency rates, the oil ministry started facing problems in acquiring equipment. The best and possibly only option was to concentrate on domestic manufactures.

The ministry called on domestic firms to mobilize their resources and prioritize production of equipment and parts required by the petroleum and associated sectors.

Drilling Items

The National Iranian Drilling Company, a subsidiary of NIOC, is collaborating with local manufacturers, especially in Khuzestan Province, to indigenize drilling equipment.

NIDC’s Technology and Engineering Department has indigenized 2,000 pieces of equipment in the past two decades, most of which are used in offshore and onshore rigs.

Iranian engineers at Ahvaz Pipe Industrial Company in Khuzestan have indigenized oil pipelines.

The company annually manufactures 7,000 tons of pipeline and is capable of supplying enough steel pipes in different sizes.

Nearly 85% of the country’s oil industry equipment is produced locally.

According to the Research Institute of the Petroleum Industry, a subsidiary of the Oil Ministry, it the RIPI is cooperating with knowledge-based firms to address the needs of the country’s oil industry, and provide and commercialize items used in the field.