The launch of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGSR) in south Iran will significantly increase the number of cities that receive Euro-4 quality gasoline, a senior official said.
Abbas Kazemi, deputy oil minister for distribution and refining affairs, told state TV that upon the launch of the PGSR's first development phase, major cities including Shiraz (Fars Province), Ahvaz (Khuzestan Province) and Bandar Abbas (Hormozgan Province) will receive a steady supply of higher grade gasoline, Mehr News Agency reported.
The first phase of the Star refinery in Hormozgan is expected to get into full swing by March.
According to published reports, the cities of Qom, Chabahar, Yazd, Kerman, Bushehr and Rafsanjan are now receiving limited amounts of Euro-4 gasoline.
First phase of the refinery will have a capacity to process 120,000 bpd of gas condensate, a type of ultra light crude oil.
The refinery is owned by Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Investment Company (49%), Oil Industry Pension Fund Investment Company (33.1%) and National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (17.9%).
Once fully operational, the refinery will produce 36 million liters per day of high-octane gasoline and 14 million ml/d of diesel. Other products include 4 ml/d of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 3 ml/d of jet fuel and 130 tons a day of sulfur.
The project's second phase is expected to come on stream six months after the launch of the first development phase.
The refinery’s products are expected to be sold domestically due to high quality and other refineries’ output will be exported. Completion of the project has been delayed several times due to a lack of funds.
International sanctions adversely affected the development of the project, but the refinery gained fresh impetus following the easing of economic, banking and trade restrictions in January last year.
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