Iran acquires technology to build small refineries costing about $30m

TEHRAN,May 21(MNA) - Iran has acquired the technology for bulding small oil refineries, which cost $30-40 million. According to Farhad Ahmadi, the Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company, such facilities will have the capacity of refining 5,000-10,000 barrels of oil per day. Such refineries can be fed with crude oil, furnace oil, or gas condensates. Refining each barrel of gas condensate will cost $4,000, and refining each barrel of crude oil will cost $8,000-10,000, he noted. Managing director of National Iranian Oil Pipeline and Telecommunication Company says the country has boosted its crude refining capacity to over 1.8 million barrels per day. Ali Ziyar said Iran has increased its oil refining capacity to more than 1.85 million barrels per day, adding that by bringing on-stream new fuel production projects and optimizing refinery processes, Iran will further increase its crude refining capacity over the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21). Ziyar pointed to the inauguration of five major oil pipelines and new storage facilities for petrochemical products during the previous Iranian calendar year and noted that plans are also underway to launch six new pipelines for the transfer of oil and oil products in the current year. During the previous Iranian calendar year, Iran’s nominal petrochemical production capacity rose by seven million tons, showing a 13.2-percent growth, after the launch of several petrochemical projects. On March 14, Iran inaugurated its biggest gasoline production hub with a daily production capacity of 16 million liters near the central city of Shazand. Iran attained self-sufficiency in fuel production after its international suppliers stopped selling gasoline to Tehran under U.S. pressure.