Tehran Oil Refinery has finalized plans to produce gasoline compliant with Euro-5 emission standards, a first in Iran, in an attempt to help alleviate the capital's air pollution.
“Tehran Oil Refinery is due to produce Euro-5 gasoline, which will only be sold in the capital,” Abbas Kazemi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, was quoted as saying by ILNA.
He did not say when production will begin.
Kazemi added that the NIORDC’s priority is to increase Euro-4 gasoline output.
The effort to enhance gasoline quality comes on the back of years-long dispute over subpar quality of Iran's gasoline which is said to be the main cause of more than 4,000 deaths annually in Tehran alone.
Shahrokh Khosravani, NIORDC deputy director, said last month that 22 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline were distributed in eight Iranian mega cities per day, adding that the company plans to expand distribution of the high-quality fuel in seven other cities.
Qom, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Yazd, Kerman, Bushehr and Rafsanjan are currently receiving Euro-4 compliant gasoline under a trial program.
More refineries nationwide could embark on producing Euro-5 gasoline, but it requires advanced technology and significant investments, the official noted.
Ahmad Khayyeri, operations manager of the refinery, had earlier announced that Tehran Oil Refinery was in talks with UOP LLC, a multinational technology firm, for upgrading the refinery’s gasoline output to Euro-5 standards.
UOP is involved in developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production, and major manufacturing industries.
Bandar Abbas refinery, in the southern Hormozgan Province, is also due to produce six million liters of gasoline and eight million liters of diesel compliant with Euro-5 standards in the second of half of the current Iranian year.
The project is estimated to cost $800 million. Once the world's biggest, Abadan Oil Refinery, is also being retrofitted to produce Euro-4 and Euro-5 gasoline. The refinery's crude processing capacity is 400,000 barrels a day.
Located in Abadan near the Persian Gulf coasts, Abadan refinery operates as a subsidiary of NIORDC, producing and processing a variety of oil byproducts including LPG, naphtha, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, gas oil, light fuel oil, lube-cut oil, bitumen and sulfur.
