Iran to open biggest oil refinery in ME

Shazand Oil Refinery (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162338.html

The biggest oil refinery in the Middle East will be inaugurated in Iran on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, reports say.

Two projects with an estimated investment of $ 3.5 billion at the Shazand Oil Refinery in the central Iranian city of Arak the will be officially inaugurated by the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the 10-day celebrations commemorating the anniversary of the Islam Revolution Victory (30 Jan -11Feb), Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.

The new development plans at the oil refinery, which will increase the oil production capacity of the country to more than 17 million liters per day, are focused on reduction of sulfur and other pollutants in order to get Euro-5 standard in production of petrol for cars.

The Euro-5 is one of the European emission standards which define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of automobiles. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.

Another significant plan is the production of the Propene, also known as Propylene, which is a waste product created when crude oil is refined into gasoline, diesel fuel and other products.

In December, the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company Managing Director Farid Ameri said that Iran will increase its fuel storage capacity by 5 billion barrels to reach over 16.7 billion liters.

The current storage capacity of oil products in the country is around 11.5 billion liters, but it will reach 16.7 billion liters by the end of the Fifth Five Year Development Plan (2010-2015), he added.