A domestic company in Iran has managed to manufacture technologically sophisticated valves needed in a mega oil project in the country.
The official IRNA news agency said in a Wednesday report that the home-made valves will be used in the Goureh-Jask project, a 1,100 oil transfer pipeline that carries oil from production facilities in southwest Iran to export terminals outside of the Persian Gulf.
The valves have been manufactured by GSSTC, the first and largest supplier of oil valves in Iran which is based to the southeast of the capital Tehran.
The 7-meter, 15-ton motor operated valve (MOV) is 56 inches in diameter and has 15,000 Newton meters (Nm) of torque and is be able to handle a flow of 1,300 barrels of oil per minute, said the report.
It added that Iran used to spend around 5 million euros on imports of similar valves from abroad.
The achievement comes as Iran’s oil industry has been subject to a comprehensive regime of American sanctions since 2018 when Washington pulled out of an international deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Sanctions were meant to deprive Iran of the ability to use oil exports revenues to develop its massive petroleum industry.
However, experts say US bans have created an opportunity for Iran to rely more on domestic resources for carrying out oil and gas projects.
Media reports and statement by government authorities in recent years have shown that Iranian equipment makers and manufacturers have played a key part in the multi-billion dollar Goureh-Jask project.
The project will enable Iran to export up to 1 billion barrels per day of crude oil from outside the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that accommodates a significant portion of the global seaborne oil trade.