Iran to Further Increase High-Quality Fuel Output

The Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGSR) in Southern Iran is now producing 103 million liters of high-quality gasoline per day with its 3 phases in full swing, a senior energy official said, adding that the 4th phase of the mega refinery will go on stream by 2 years.

“Making the country needless to import gasoline, the three-phase mega project will annually create over $800 million added value in the oil and gas industries,” Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) Alireza Sadeqabadi said on Monday.

He noted that the PGSR, located in the port city of Bandar Abbas in Iran’s Southern province of Hormuzgan, aims to enable the country export fuel and other high-value products.

With full implementation of PGSR, the official said, the country’s gasoline output has now reached 103 million liters per day, while Iranian’s burn an average of 87 million liters per day of the strategic fuel.

“This can turn the country into a potential exporter of the fuel,” he said.

He noted that with the PGSR going on full swing, domestic gasoline production in compliance with Euro-5 standards will rise to 45 million liters per day.

The third phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, known as the world’s largest gas condensate refinery, was launched Monday in the presence of President Hassan Rouhani and Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

The senior official said the construction of the fourth phase of the mega project has started and is expected to be completed in two years.

Each of the four phases is designed to produce 12 million liters per day of high-octane gasoline, 4.5 ml/d of Euro-4 diesel, 1ml/d of kerosene and 3 million liters of LPG a day.

Each phase uses about 120,000 barrels per day of gas condensate supplied from the South Pars Gas Field. When the fourth phase is up and running the refinery will consume 500,000 bpd of fuel.

According to Zanganeh, Iran's gasoline production capacity in 2014 was 52 ml/d. while the output has reached 105 ml/d over the course of five years.

Persian Gulf Star Refinery is the world’s largest gas condensate refinery and the first one in the Middle East. Over 70 percent of the equipment needed for building the facility was supplied by domestic manufacturers and almost all the installation and implementation projects were carried out by Iranian forces.

source: FARS News Agency