Bandar Abbas refinery, in the southern Hormozgan Province, will produce six million liters of gasoline and eight million liters of diesel compliant with Euro-5 standards in the second of half of the next Iranian calendar year (starting March 21), said the project manager, Mehr news agency reported.
The project has had a physical progress of 93 percent progress, and the gasoline production unit is 85 percent complete, Hamid Sharif Razi said, adding that utility units will go into operation early next year.
Around 400 million euros ($453.8m) and 7.000 billion ($262.6m) rials has been invested in the gasoline production project so far. The project is estimated to cost 700 million euros ($795 million) in total.
One of the project's environmental objectives is to reduce benzene, sulfur, and aromatics to less than one, 10, and 35 percent, respectively, following the growing environmental concerns over high levels of lead, aromatics (benzene in particular), olefins, and sulfur in domestically manufactured gasoline, which has resulted in air pollution and health problems in many cities across the country.
Moreover, desulfurization of oil products could allow for potential production of 120 tons of sulfur granules per day, providing the grounds for export of sulfur products, Razi noted.
Required feedstock for the project is to be supplied through the refinery's light and heavy naphtha. The refinery exports its crude naphtha.
Super gasoline with 95 octane and regular gasoline with 90 octane will be supplied upon completion of the project. Octane rating or octane number is a standard measure of the performance of an engine or aviation fuel. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating.
European emission standards define the acceptable limits for vehicles' exhaust emissions. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards. The stages are typically referred to as Euro 1, Euro 2, Euro 3, Euro 4 and Euro 5 for Light Duty Vehicle standards.
Iran was set to become self-reliant in gasoline production and start exports by the summer, but things have not gone according to plan due to a delay in construction of several refineries.
The increasing demand for gasoline should facilitate the completion of Bandar Abbas, Persian Gulf Star and other incomplete refineries, while increasing gasoline production capacity and reducing heavier fuel production.
