Tehran, Iran, June 22
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Iran has started optimizing its refineries in a bid to reduce their mazut output and add to their gasoline product.
Currently nine refineries in the country are put on agenda to undergo quality upgrade which will lead to less production of mazut and more gasoline output, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) CEO Abbas Kazemi told Shana news agency June 22.
The refineries of Isfahan and Arak are pioneers, but those of Bandar Abbas, Tehran, and Tabriz will follow next in carrying out the developmental plans, he noted.
Mazut is a low-quality oil product that is used mainly as fuel at refineries and some diesel engines. Iran’s need for the fuel is on decline as the country is replacing mazut with natural gas at refineries and many industrial units.
Right now Iranian refineries’ mazut output stands at 30 percent. NIORDC plans to reduce the portion to about 9 percent.
The official noted that redesigning the Isfahan refinery was pushed through by 20 percent before it halted due to sanctions. Now that the sanctions are lifted, he said, the project will be resumed.
Regarding finding foreign investment for the projects, he said Iran is eying countries from East Asia to offer their interest in cooperation.
“South Korea has announced interest…. However, we welcome Japan and China,” Kazemi stated.
Some 72.5 million liters of gasoline were consumed per day in Iran from March 20 to June 15, 1.2 percent more year on year.
Totally 67 million liters of diesel also were consumed per day (13.5 percent less year on year) in the period, of that amount 6.7 million liters were consumed in power plants.
Iran’s strategic gasoline storage amounted for 1.32 billion liters by the end of last fiscal year (March 20).
The country’s Euro 4 gasoline storage stood at 178 million liters by March 20.
The daily gasoline consumption in Iran stands at about 85.8 million liters per day. Over the past Iranian year, the gasoline import to Iran increased by 100 percent, a jump from 4.5 million liters to 9 million.