Alireza Zeighami said Sunday that the country would celebrate gasoline self-sufficiency in July after the second development phase of Imam Khomeini refinery in Shazand near the central city of Arak is inaugurated.
“At the moment, all processing units of the refinery have come on stream and two remaining units will become fully operational in the next few weeks,” he said.
Zeighami, who is the managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), stated that the pre-commissioning of RCD (reduced-crude desulfurization) and RFCC (Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracker) units of Shazand refinery have almost finished and the new gasoline production unit will become fully operational in July.
The official added that when the two units are commissioned, Iran's daily capacity for producing Euro-5 gasoline will increase by eight million liters.
The Imam Khomeini refinery of Shazand is currently producing about eight million liters of quality gasoline and a new plan for increasing the refinery’s diesel fuel production will become operational soon.
When in full swing, the second phase of the refinery will be Iran's first petroleum refinery unit which can produce up to 7,500 barrels of propylene per day.
The development project will also increase total refining capacity of the plant from 170,000 to 250,000 barrels per day.
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