Tehran (IP) - Iran has joined the six countries possessing technical know-how to produce sponge coke.

Iran PressIran news: Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji said: “This project has been implemented with a €2.2 billion investment. With its implementation, we have entered the fuel oil chain, not to mention the fact that the Bandar Abbas oil refinery will become the second refinery in the country to stop fuel oil supply.”

“Bandar Abbas oil refinery processes 350,000 b/d of products, 130,000 b/d of which is converted into fuel oil. In this project implemented using the technical know-how of the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) and engagement of local contractors and manufacturers, 8,000 persons will be employed,” he said.

Owji said: “Hormuzgan Province is the country’s hub of refined petroleum products. With the construction of the Shahid Qassem Soleimani and Morvarid Makran refineries this province will see its refining capacity reach 1.8 mb/d.”

The minister noted that fuel oil, which is low value, would be transformed into more valuable products.

Owji said nearly $8 billion of upstream and downstream petroleum industry projects would come online by the end of the current calendar year.

He added that the refinery of Phase 14 of the giant South Pars gas field, worth $2.5 billion, the Isfahan refinery’s fuel quality upgrade, worth $800 million, the NGL 3200 project, the Abadan refinery capacity upgrade as well as urban and rural gas supply are among these projects.

The minister expressed hope that the “Mehr Khalij Fars” refinery would come online with a capacity of 120 tb/d by March 2024. “By enhancing the refining capacity of Hormuzgan Province, implementation of Rafsanjan-Mashhad, more than 460 km of which lying in Hormuzgan Province, has started and is expected to come online by May 2023.”

He said that the operation of this pipeline would put an end to the need for 1,500 oil tankers to ply roads daily. “This project would largely help prevent pollution, save fuel and reduce road accidents.”

Owji also said that the Minab-Sirik gas pipeline would be completed by Mars, adding that Jask represented good opportunities for investment in the oil, gas, refining, and petrochemical sectors.

Minister Owji said Iran was exporting oil even under toughest ever sanctions, adding that the country’s oil and gas production had reached 3 mb/d and 1 bcm/d, respectively.

He said Iran added 200 tb/d to its light oil production in the current calendar year, adding: “We have many customers for our light crude oil, the grade which we do not have too much to supply.”

He touched on the activity of about 70 petrochemical plants in the country with a total capacity of 90 million tonnes a year and said Iran’s petrochemical exports were valued at $15 billion last calendar year.

“Venezuela’s oil production dropped from 4 mb/d to 250 tb/d as soon as it was sanctioned, but Iran has made significant progress in the oil and gas industry,” Javad Owji added.

Sponge coke production started in the Bandar Abbas oil refinery after upgrading the quality of heavy products there.

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