Isfahan Refinery has launched its new gasoline complex with a production capacity of 7 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said.
“Concurrent with the inauguration of the new unit, Iran’s Euro-4 gasoline production exceeded 24 million liters per day,” Abbas Kazemi was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“The mega project’s launch helped supply Shiraz and Ahvaz provinces with Euro-4 gasoline for the first time.”
Kazemi stressed that upon the completion of the second phase, the refinery’s Euro-4 gasoline production capacity will surpass 12 million liters per day.
Underlining the fact that Euro-4 gasoline is being distributed in metropolises such as Mashhad, Tabriz and Tehran, the official said, “Plans have been made to boost the production capacity of Euro-4 gasoline in Iran’s refineries so that even smaller cities can benefit from its advantages.”
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 gasoil has been on the agenda of the key refinery.
“The project has made slow physical progress,” Abdolrahim Shamseddini, Shiraz refinery’s managing director, said.
The unit, with a capacity of 6,500 barrels a day, will enhance the quality of one million liters of gasoline (due to its benzene components) to EU standards.
Underscoring the much-needed funding, the official hoped that the project would be complete within three years, if budgetary constraints do not impede its progress. He noted that the foundation work has been completed and procurement of equipment and installations is underway.
“Iran will become a gasoline exporter when the first phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas goes on stream. Once fully operational, it will have the capacity of producing 36 million liters of Euro 4-compliant gasoline per day,” he said.
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.
Iranian researchers have succeeded in manufacturing 25 catalysts, including the catalyst used in the production of Euro-4 gasoline. 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.
