BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 13
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Funds worth $10 billion are required for Iranian refineries to produce low-sulfur (0.5 percent) fuel oil, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said, Trend reports via IRNA.
Zangeneh noted that this money cannot be ensured in the conditions of the current US sanctions against Iran.
The minister added that the only way to provide low-sulfur fuel for ships in Iran is to improve the production quality of the refineries.
Zangeneh said that in case if oil refineries operate under normal conditions, Iran will produce about 40,000 tons of fuel oil per day. As many as 13,000 tons of this volume are produced at the Abadan refinery, but that fuel oil should be reprocessed, the minister noted.
Zangeneh added that the work is underway at the Abadan refinery to increase production of low-sulfur fuel oil. However, the related work has been suspended at the Isfahan refinery due to financial problems, said the minister.
According to the International Maritime Organization’s convention, all ships must use 0.5 percent sulfur fuel oil from the beginning of January 2020. Iranian ships need 1.5 million tons of 0.5 percent sulfur fuel oil per year.
The US imposed sanctions on Iran in November 2018 and expanded the list of sanctions in several stages. This had a significant negative impact on Iran’s foreign trade with many countries.