TEHRAN – The indigenization of the knowledge for the production of equipment and materials needed in the gas industry is saving Iran $19 million every year, an official with the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) announced.

“Currently, more than 90 percent of adsorbents, more than 95 percent of catalysts, and over 90 percent of solvents and chemicals needed in the gas industry have been localized,” Head of NIGC’s Production Coordination and Supervision Directorate Masoud Zardovian said.

Speaking in a seminar on coordinating supply and demand in the gas industry on Saturday, Zadovian said: “We are now looking to improve the quality of products, and to facilitate access to them while making prices more competitive.”

He pointed to the sustained and safe supply of clean gas for the consumers as the major ax of his company’s activities and said: “All the major policies of the company are defined and determined according to the mentioned goal.”

Going hand in hand with the oil industry, the Iranian gas sector has been enjoying drastic technological advances in recent years, and numerous knowledge-based companies, research centers, and institutes have become active to help the industry reach its goals of self-sufficiency.

The growth in the mentioned sector is so fast-pacing that according to the NIGC Head Hassan Montazer Torbati the country’s gas industry will become completely self-sufficient by 2024.

The indigenization and domestic production of oil and gas industry equipment has been always among the objectives of the Iranian Oil Ministry. However, the issue became further highlighted since the re-imposition of the U.S. sanctions and Washington’s determination for cutting off the Islamic Republic’s ties with the world advances in knowledge and technology, especially in the oil and gas sector.

In the past few years, the ministry has been seriously supporting knowledge-based companies and startups, and several events, exhibitions, and panels have been held in this regard to encourage the mentioned companies’ contribution to the country’s oil and gas industry.

In June 2019, NIGC held a reverse pitch panel to address the industry’s technological issues and to benefit from the capabilities and capacities of the knowledge-based companies and academics active in the industry.

EF/MA

Photo: Head of NIGC Production Coordination and Supervision Directorate Masoud Zardovian