The first phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in southern Iran is expected to go on stream in the current Iranian year (started March 20), managing director of Tamin Petroleum & Petrochemical Investment Company (TAPPICO) said.
Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi, who was speaking on the sidelines of his visit to the refinery, also noted that TAPPICO will do its best to expedite the pace of the project.
According to Shana, the state-controlled TAPPICO, which is a subsidiary of the Social Security Investment Company, owns a 49% share in the refinery located in the port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province.
Peyvandi said that upon the completion of the first phase of the project, Iran will turn into a gasoline exporter. It currently imports gasoline to meet domestic demand of around 70 million to 80 million liters per day.
The long-awaited Persian Gulf Star Refinery will produce 12 million liters of Euro-4 compliant gasoline per day and 360,000 barrels per day of condensates, once the refinery’s first phase goes on stream in March. According to plans, products are expected to be sold domestically due to their high quality and other refineries’ output will be exported.
Peyvandi, who was previously a deputy at the National Petrochemical Company, called on the government to provide finance for the project, adding that he will make the appeal to the Oil Ministry’s investment fund as well as the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.
Completion of the project was delayed due to a lack of funds.
“International sanctions against the country had adversely affected the process of the project, the pace of which has accelerated following the lifting of the constraints,” he said.
Peyvandi added that the procedure of importing equipment, however, is still slow as limitations take time to be completely removed.
On the status of the refinery’s distillation unit, Peyvandi stressed that the unit is ready to become operational but to avoid unpredictable risks in the implementation of the project, it has not come on stream yet.
“Although the Persian Gulf Star Refinery’s first phase has made physical progress by 90%, the remaining steps, which include checking the instruments, setting the parameters and quality control issues, are time-consuming,” he said.
Ahmad Adib, the refinery's executive director, said in November 2015 that the project's first phase had made 91% progress.
Peyvandi underlined that the refinery will be the country’s third largest one in terms of feedstock capacity and the biggest in gasoline production capacity.
