The National Iranian Oil Company has boosted its crude oil refining capacity by 11 million liters per day (l/d) in the last 12 months.
According to the data from the Oil Ministry and the National Iranian Oil Company, the processing capacity has risen from 270 million l/d in 2021 to 281 million l/d in 2022, up 4% in the one-year period.
Giving a breakdown, the state-run news portal noted that Euro-4 quality diesel production capacity has experienced a 17% rise, reaching from 35 million l/d to 41 million l/d. Gasoline output has also soared by 2% over the period to exceed 105 million l/d.
“The production of Euro-4 compliant gasoline at Lavan Oil Refinery, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company in the southern Hormozgan Province, has risen by 1 million l/d,” said Mohsen Khojastehmehr, Managing Director of NIOC.
“Lavan's gasoline output capacity has reached 3.8 million l/d.” The official noted that NIOC’s refining capacity has returned to levels not seen before the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and reimposition of sanctions on Iran's crude sales in 2018.
"The plan to raise oil production capacity was implemented at an estimated cost of $500 million," he said. “The money was mainly spent on digging new wells and installing electric submersible pumps in marginal and abandoned wells whose output level had decreased substantially.”
The Isfahan Oil Refining Company in Isfahan Province has recently launched a sulfur granulation unit with a daily capacity of 300 tons. The move was also in line with policies to reduce environmental pollution and upgrade the quality of refined products. The company has succeeded in removing aromatic compounds, sulfur and benzene from AW-406 solvent and converting it to ++AW-406 solvent.
Khojastehmehr said 19 development plans are being carried out across the country and upon their completion, NIOC’s refining capacity will increase by 1.5 times to reach 3.5 million barrels per day.
