Iran will ship the first cargo of crude oil from its new terminal at Jask on the Oman Sea Coast in June, following completion of a key oil export pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said May 17, the ministry's news service reported.
"Construction of the Goureh-Jask oil pipeline has finished," Zanganeh said, referring to the conduit that will carry 1 million b/d of crude from Iran's West Karun oil fields to the southern coast on the Sea of Oman for export.
Zanganeh said the first oil consignment from the Jask terminal will be exported in the Iranian month of Khordad (May 22-June 21).
Iran pursued the idea of building a sister facility for the Kharg oil terminal after the Strait of Hormuz shipping chokepoint became the focus of military tensions between Iran and the US and several tankers were hit by mines or other attacks.
Iran began construction of the $1.1 billion Goureh-Jask pipeline in June 2020. It has not yet been officially inaugurated.The Goureh pump station receives heavy oil from fields in the south and southwestern oil rich regions of Iran and currently sends the crude to Kharg Island.
