Communicator

June 29, 2025 -- Iran has begun gas exports from the third sweetening train of the Phase 14 refinery at the South Pars gas field. Credit: Tehran Times

Construction of the South Pars Phase 14 onshore gas‐condensate refinery began in 2010 as part of Iran’s ambitious plan to fully develop the world’s largest natural gas field shared with Qatar. Nestled within the South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, some 15 km east of Bandar Kangan in Bushehr province, the facility was conceived to process sour gas from Phase 14 offshore platforms and supply sweet gas, condensate, LPG, sulfur and ethane to domestic and export markets.

After a decade and a half of phased engineering, procurement, and construction—marked by extensive use of domestically manufactured equipment and modular train fabrication—the refinery was finally completed in late 2024. Within weeks of its inauguration, Phase 14 was tied into Iran’s national gas pipeline network, enabling the first exports of sweet gas from its third sweetening train to neighboring countries in January 2025.

However, the facility’s moment of triumph was abruptly challenged on June 14, 2025, when an Israeli airstrike struck one of the four sweetening trains. The attack, the first direct aerial assault on Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure, triggered a blaze that halted production of approximately 12 million cubic meters per day of gas and temporarily curtailed condensate output. Initial assessments feared weeks‐long outages, but a round‐the‐clock repair effort led by Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) engineers restored the damaged train to full operation in under ten days.

This rapid recovery not only prevented significant disruptions to domestic gas supply—critical for power generation and industrial usage—but also underscored Iran’s strategic emphasis on local content. With over 70 percent of Phase 14’s components sourced from Iranian manufacturers, spare parts and technical expertise were readily available onshore, enabling swift replacement of heat exchangers, valves, and amine compressors damaged in the strike.

As Phase 14 resumes uninterrupted service, its journey from groundbreaking in 2010, through years of engineering challenges, to a dramatic test under fire, highlights both the refinery's technical sophistication and Iran's commitment to energy self-reliance. The swift repair demonstrates that Iran's investment in domestic manufacturing and technical expertise has created a resilient energy infrastructure capable of withstanding both operational challenges and external threats.

#iran #southpars #gasfield #refinery #gasprocessingplant #sourgas #sweetgas #parsoilandgascompany #pocg #nioc

Unsweetened LPG has been added.

#lpg #rawlpg #ngl #unsweetenedlpg #sourlpg

AMUR GCC Project showing the 9 Linde Pyrolysis Furnaces and the Quench Tower | AGCC website

Amur Gas Chemical Complex: Navigating Technology Licensing Challenges

The Amur Gas Chemical Complex (Amur GCC) exemplifies the intricate balance between technological ambition and geopolitical realities. Originally designed to become the world’s largest polymer production site, the project has faced significant delays due to shifts in technology licensing dynamics, even as its core infrastructure advances.

The Amur GCC Project

Amur GCC stands as one of the most ambitious petrochemical undertakings in Russia’s recent history and a flagship of Russian-Chinese industrial cooperation. Located near Svobodny in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East, the project is a joint venture between SIBUR, Russia’s largest petrochemical company, holding a 60% stake, and China’s Sinopec, which owns the remaining 40%. When completed, Amur GCC will be among the world’s largest producers of base polymers, with a design capacity of 2.7 million tonnes per year—2.3 million tonnes of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polypropylene.

The complex is integrated with the broader Amur gas processing and gas chemical cluster, ensuring direct feedstock supply via pipelines. Gazprom’s Amur Gas Processing Plant (Amur GPP), which processes natural gas from East Siberian fields, will supply the primary feedstock to Amur GCC: ethane (up to 2 million t/y), and LPG (propane/butane, ~1.1 million t/y).

Steam Cracker and Downstream Progress

At the heart of the complex lies its 2.3 million t/y ethylene plant, supplied and partially engineered by Linde before the German firm’s confirmed withdrawal in 2022. Linde’s contributions included delivering critical components like the 1,500-ton quench tower, transported from South Korea to the remote Amur site—a logistical triumph showcased in earlier project updates.



Quench tower delivery to AMUR GCC, Nov 2021 | Credit: Linde Engineering

By January 2024, SIBUR released a progress video on AGCC status update as of December 2023, confirming that polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) production units were being deployed as originally planned. The footage shows equipment installation for these downstream facilities, suggesting that proprietary technologies from Western licensors—Univation (Unipol PE gas-phase plants), ChevronPhillips Chemical (PE slurry process, undefined if MarTECH Single Loop or Advanced Dual Loop), and LyondellBasell (Spheripol PP Technology)—remain integral to the project. This indicates that either licensing agreements persisted post-2022 or SIBUR/Sinopec retained rights to use the technologies despite licensors’ reduced involvement.



Amur GCC Progress Video, Jan 2024. Reactor in this screenshot is a Slurry Loop Reactor | Credit: Sibur

Licensing Uncertainties and Delays

While Linde publicly exited the project by July 2022, when part of the equipment, including the pyrolysis unit, had already been built, SIBUR and Sinopec decided to reconsider the strategy for implementing the project, redesigned it and replaced contractors and license holders for the polyethylene and polypropylene lines. To this date, the status of other Western partners remains ambiguous as public disclosures from SIBUR and Sinopec have not clarified whether CPChem, Univation, or LyondellBasell continue to provide technical support or if their pre-sanction contracts are being honored. The lack of explicit withdrawal announcements contrasts with the project’s two-year delay.



Amur GCC Progress Video, Jan 2024. Reactor in this screenshot is likely a Gas Phase Unipol PE reactor | Credit: Sibur

It is a matter of speculation if SIBUR and Sinopec may be relying on existing licenses, in-house expertise, or third-party intermediaries to proceed with the original technologies. The January 2024 video underscores that downstream unit construction aligns with initial designs, implying that the licensors’ intellectual property is still being utilized, albeit without confirmed active collaboration.

Construction began in August 2020 and mechanical completion has been delayed to 2026 (originally 2024–25). Despite licensing headwinds, the Amur GCC achieved 76% mechanical completion by mid-May 2025 with commercial polyethylene production to start by Q3 2026, polypropylene production and full operations expected to follow in 2027 (source: interfax.com).

Strategic Implications

The Amur GCC’s trajectory highlights the resilience of large-scale petrochemical projects in the face of geopolitical disruptions. While Linde’s exit created logistical and technical gaps, the continued use of Western-designed downstream technologies—whether through preserved licenses or workarounds—demonstrates SIBUR and Sinopec’s commitment to delivering a world-class facility. The complex’s success will hinge on operationalizing these units without direct licensor support, a challenge that could redefine global norms for technology transfer in sanctioned environments. For now, the Amur GCC stands as a testament to both international collaboration’s potential and its fragility in an era of shifting alliances.

#linde #univation #lyondellbasell #chevronphillips #cpchem #sibur #amurgcc #sinopec
#steamcracker #ethyleneplant #amur #russia #unipolpe #martech #slurryloop #gasphasepe #spheripol #polyethylene #polypropylene #ethane #lpg