The second memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company (NIORDC) and the private sector for construction of small-scale fuel stations, financial manager at the NIORDC said, Shana news agency reported Monday.
The MoU provides for construction of small-scale fuel stations in major cities, with Tehran having been given the priority, Mohammadreza Mazloumi said. The MoU was signed between Mazloumi and Seyyed Mostafa Mousavi, managing director of Petro Energy Group.
The parties were mandated to facilitate construction of stations in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, first in Tehran, and then in other major cities.
"All private investors are encouraged to participate," Mazloumi said, adding that private companies face no limitation and investors can partake on a competitive basis. With collaboration of the municipality, private firms can find small lands where the stations can be constructed.
Lack of land in major cities and the huge investment required to buy land and construct infrastructure have prevailed upon authorities to consider alternatives such as small-scale stations.
Gasoline Supply
Euro-4 standard gasoline will be supplied in Shiraz and Ahvaz by June, said managing director of the NIORDC, Seyyed Naser Sajadi, adding that gasoline supplies to Ahvaz has been made contingent on production from the key Abadan Refinery.
Abadan refinery in oil-rich Khuzestan Province is expected to produce Euro-4 quality gasoline once a development plan is fully implemented. When the development project is complete, Iran's gasoline production will rise by 6.2 million liters per day (ml/d), gasoil production by 15.5 ml/d, fuel oil production by 7.1 ml/d, kerosene by 3.9 ml/d, and liquefied gas by 1.5 ml/d.
The refinery is expected to produce 4-5 million liters of gasoline per day, which will be supplied to Ahvaz and Abadan cities, supervisory director at the NIORDC, Saeid Mahjoubi said, yet the gasoline for Shiraz will be imported. Currently, 20 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline per day is produced domestically, the official added.
Abadan refinery operates as a subsidiary of NIORDC and produces and processes a variety of oil byproducts including LPG, naphtha petrochemical feed, regular gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, gas oil, light fuel oil, lube-cut oil, bitumen, and sulfur.
Arrangements have also been made to store sufficient amount of gasoline until overhaul operations at Imam Khomeini (Shazand) Refinery is completed. Shazand is expected to go under major overhauls for a month.
The refinery’s Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit went offline several times due to technical problems last year. During the downtime, the refinery’s Euro 4 gasoline production decreased by 8-9 million liters per day.
Emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles. The European emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
Gasoline consumption has increased by 1.8 percent in the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20) compared with the previous year, while production declined approximately 4 percent last year. Production averaged 65 million liters per day (ml/d) last year, but the figure has been reduced to 59 ml/d in the current year. Prolongation of overhaul operations in Shazand Refinery is one of the main reasons behind the production cut.
