Iran's Euro-4 gasoline and diesel production capacity will experience a 24-million-liter rise by the end of the current Iranian year (started March 21), managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said.
"Oil Ministry has set an agenda to launch five new Euro-4 gasoline and diesel production plans," Abbas Kazemi was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
"Plans have been made to develop three out of the said five major projects by the yearend. It is predicted that Isfahan Refinery's gasoline unit, with a production capacity of 7 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline per day, will become operational in the near future."
The official stressed that Lavan Refinery, with a production capacity of 1 million liters of gasoline per day, will go on stream by the end of the current Iranian year.
"Completion of Bandar Abbas Refinery gasoline complex, a subsidiary of NIORDC, which will also produce 4 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline, is high on the agenda," he said.
According to Kazemi, in addition to the implementation of the new Euro-4 gasoline production plans, the Oil Ministry has adopted policies to improve the quality of diesel production. This explains why the company is determined to launch Lavan Refinery's new diesel complex, with a 3-million-liter rise in Euro-4 diesel production per day, by the end of the year.
Currently, diesel is produced in Imam Khomeini (Shazand) oil refinery, and Tehran Refinery. Production stands at 100 million liters, of which around 24 million liters conform to Euro-4 standards.
"Bandar Abbas Refinery's Euro-4 diesel production capacity will rise by 9 million liters per day," Kazemi said, hoping that the first phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery's Euro-4 gasoline complex, with a production capacity of 12 million liters per day, will be launched in the near future.
The refinery has a nominal production capacity of 36 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline per year.
Iranian researchers have succeeded in manufacturing 25 catalysts, including the catalyst used in the production of Euro-4 gasoline. With the aim of producing Euro-4 gasoline in Shiraz refinery, the isomerization unit has come into partial operation and will be completed with an investment of $55 million.
As per the Oil Ministry's renovation policies, to complete the value chain in the oil industry, generating quality gasoline and diesel has been on the agenda of the key refinery.
Iran plans to produce high-quality gasoline to curb air pollution that hampers the wellbeing of millions of Iranians. Emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust fumes of new vehicles.
The European emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives stressing the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
The Iranian Oil Ministry has taken steps to reduce the distribution of low-quality gasoline and increase the supply of Euro-4 gasoline.
