Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province has begun production of gasoline compliant with Euro-5 standards, managing director of the company said.
"The move is in line with efforts to produce quality gasoline in compliance with European emission standards," Ali Dadvar was quoted as saying by ISNA.
European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of vehicles sold in the European Union. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
Referring to phase three of the refinery, he said the infrastructure is in place but completion will take time as “production units are interdependent and must come online in tandem.”
Dadvar noted that fuel production capacity in the sprawling complex in south Iran now is 30 million liters per day and would be raised to 40 million liters before the end of the fiscal year in March.
Once complete, each phase's maximum capacity can reach 120,000 barrels per day. PGSR converts light crude, known as condensate, into gasoline and naphtha.
"The plant was originally planned to be developed in three phases, but it can have two extra phases. If that happens daily production will rise to 600,000 barrels per day," Dadvar said, adding that the first two phases have become operational and the third is being developed at a rather slower pace due to financial constraints.
"Although the government has approved a $311 million loan from the sovereign wealth fund, the National Development Fund of Iran, to increase the refinery's production capacity, phase three is being financed entirely by the sale of the plant's products, namely diesel, kerosene and LPG.”
Asked about the necessary catalysts such as aluminum, platinum, processed clay, and acids, he said unlike other refineries such as Abadan Oil Refinery in Khuzestan Province, which import the catalysts from India and China, PGSR catalysts are manufactured inside the country.
PGSR is owned by Tamin Petroleum and Petrochemical Investment Company (49%), Oil Industry Pension Fund Investment Company (33.1%) and the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (17.9%).
Data released by the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company show Iranians burn as much as 105 million liters of gasoline per day. This is while domestic fuel output is in the region of 70 million liters and the rest is imported.
