Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 8 / Trend F.Milad/
Three petrochemical plants came on stream at the Shazand refinery, central Iran, aiming to improve the quality of oil products and boost fuel production capacity at the refinery, Mehr news agency reported.
Iran will soon inaugurate two other important petrochemical units at the refinery which will pave the way for boosting gasoline production capacity by 8.2 million litres per day, an official of the National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company said.
Rashid Seyedian added the project will raise daily gasoline output at the Shazand refinery to 16 million litres.
Mr Seyedian had previously announced that some €270 million has been invested in the project and the units will come on stream by February 19.
Four development plans will be put into operation by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19), boosting the country's gasoline production capacity to 70 million litres per day, according to Mehr.
Iranian gasoline imports have slumped by as much as 95 per cent over the past four years, according to official government data. This took place as rising refinery capacity and lower fuel subsidies helped neutralise Western sanctions aimed at starving Tehran of fuel.