TEHRAN, April 11 (Shana) �- Iranian gas refineries processed 178.1 bcm of natural gas during the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 19), registering a 6-percent rise from a year ago.

A senior official with the Iranian National Gas Company (NIGC) told Shana that 5.53 bcm of the gas was supplied form Phase 12 of the supergiant South Pars gas field and nearly 4 bcm was withdrawn from phases 17 and 18 of the field.

Abdolhossein Samari, deputy NIGC managing director of projects, said Bidboland Refinery Company processed 2.8 bcm of the gas recovered from South Pars phases during the same period while Fajr Jam refined 1.2 bcm of natural gas which it received from Iran gas trunk-line 5 (IGAT-5).

Samari said production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rose by 31% year-on-year, crossing 2.73 million metric tons.

Iranian refineries treated 25 mcm of gas condensates in the year that ended on March 20 2014, which grew 22% in the following year to hit 30.7 mcm.

Sulfur output of refineries rose by 7% as well hitting 1.75 million tons, he added.
Furthermore, ethane production was at 1.628 million metric tons which was up 10% from a year ago.

By SHANA