Iran set to become energy supplier to east Asia

The managing-director of Iran Oil Pipeline and Telecommunications Company (IOPTC) Ali Ziar said that Iran will become a strategic corridor for energy supply to East Asia whose consumption is on the rise. Ziar said more than 25 percent of the world’s energy consumption will be in East Asia by 2030. “The infrastructures established for the crude oil and oil products pipeline network as well as rich hydrocarbon reserves and geopolitical and territorial position have made Iran an important place in the Middle East,” he said. “In today’s world, possession of energy and infrastructures for its transfer indicates power and wealth. Over the past several years, the Central Asian states which have come to the limelight have changed the energy balance in a way that Iran would benefit,” Ziar said. “Given its position and potentials, Iran can become a corridor for the transfer of energy for producers and consumers of oil and gas,” he noted. Ziar said crude oil swap and oil products generate revenues for the country, Ziar said, adding: “Due to Iran’s experiences and infrastructures constructed for crude oil swap from the Caspian Sea, we hope that this activity will reach its maximum capacity with the efforts of decision-makers.” He said storage facilities constructed in north of Iran can facilitate oil swap as they are in close to Tehran Refinery. Ziar said 14,000 kilometers of transfer network and 186 terminal facilities are transferring crude oil and oil products across the country. The official inaugurated a storage project which he said includes four facilities each with a capacity of 40,000 cubic meters.