Speaking at a nationwide meeting of senior managers and heads of HSE
(health, safety and environment) in the oil industry, Javad Owji stressed the
importance of HSE and the promotion of managers in this field.
He said the oil industry needed operational discipline more than ever
and that the transfer of experiences and technical knowledge in this field was
very effective.
Owji added that HSE was one of the important issues and key indicators
of any organization and that oil industry managers also regarded it as
important and were growing in this field.
He said: "However, there is room for improvement in management by
enhancing knowledge and using experiences to reach the global level, although
the oil industry has been a pioneer in HSE in Iran and it should be seriously
followed up in all sectors of projects and plans."
The official said that in the past 15 years, there had been a 35%
decrease in accidents in the oil industry and expressed hope that there would
be no accidents in any of the sectors.
"But most of the accidents are in the contracting sector, which
needs to be seriously pursued by contractors," he said.
He said that today, production in the country had real value without
accidents.
"We have witnessed accidents in the oil industry around the world
in recent years. Working in this industry is one of the most difficult
activities in the world due to its complexity and dealing with high-pressure
oil and gas fields. For example, reservoirs of crude group have more than
15,000 psi pressure. People realize this amount of pressure when they know that
the gas pressure inside the pipes of houses is only a quarter psi," he
said.
Owji emphasized that from a safety point of view, the gas sector was
much more dangerous than the oil sector.
"The Petroleum Ministry has taken effective steps to protect the
environment by accelerating the implementation of projects to collect flare
gases from southern oil fields. These gases are national assets and can be
converted into high value-added products as feedstock for petrochemicals. With
regard to determining the fate of all projects in this field by the end of this
administration, no gas will be burned at flares at facilities across southern
Iran," he said.
He referred to the launch of a $1.4 billion gas refinery project at
Hoveizeh field, and said: "All associated gases from West Karun region
(Azadegan, Yaran, Yadavaran, Jofeir fields, etc.) will be processed at this
facility at 250 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) in phase one and 500 mmcfd
in phase two. Also associated gases from East Karun are being collected for
refining at Bidboland Persian Gulf refinery which is now operating below its
nominal capacity."
He said that NGL 3100 project at Dehloran would also be operational by
the end of this calendar year to March 21 2024.
"All associated gases from Dehloran region will be processed at
this facility," he said.
Owji stressed on creating green space in ongoing projects and said:
"In terms of pipeline corridors for oil and gas pipelines across Iran,
given their potential hazards, I seriously request HSE and development managers
to comply with 100% rules and regulations."