A 60,000-barrel gas condensate refinery will be constructed on Qeshm Island within the next three years to help increase gasoline and other petroleum products output in the country, managing director of Behin Qeshm Oil Refining Company said.
“With the construction of Pasargad Qeshm Gas Condensate Refinery, 6 million liters per day and 2 billion liters per year will be added to the country's gasoline production capacity,” Hamed Doshmanfana was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The project seeks to prevent the sale of raw gas condensate, create added value, create employment and ensure maximum production from the South Pars Gas Field, he added.
Doshmanfana noted that the refinery will be built with an investment of $500 million and its products include liquefied petroleum gas, light and heavy naphtha, and gasoline.
Emphasizing that all products of the refinery will be exported, he said the total export income of the refinery is estimated at $1 billion annually.
Behin Qeshm Oil Refining Company is a subsidiary of the Pasargad Energy Development Company that is active in offshore drilling, general contracting (oil and gas exploration and production) and pipe manufacturing.
Being the largest island in the Persian Gulf, Qeshm has the potential to become an energy hub in the region and one of the largest producers of oil and gas.
Qeshm is estimated to sit atop more than 4 billion barrels of oil and 283 billion cubic meters of gas in place. Numerous hydrocarbon fields, proximity to the strategic Strait of Hormuz and Oman Sea, connection to the national gas network and access to Central Asian markets are among the advantages of the strategic island.
So far, various oil facilities have been established on the island, one of the latest of which was the first ultra-heavy crude oil refinery in the country, whose first phase was launched in January.
The refining complex has a processing capacity of 35,000 barrels of heavy crude per day. It produces bitumen [960,000 tons per annum] plus diesel, kerosene and naphtha [7 million barrels].
Built on a 45-hectare plot with the help of domestic engineers, the refinery uses feedstock provided by offshore platforms in Soroush and Norouz Oilfields in the Persian Gulf.
