Esfahan Oil Refinery Company’s collaboration with South Korea’s Daelim Corporation on optimizing the facility's processes will result in the production of about 8.5 million barrels of gasoline per day and lower mazut output to less than 10% of its total output, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company said on Saturday
Iran finalized an agreement worth $2 billion (2.3 trillion won) with Daelim last year to renovate and expand the oil refinery in Isfahan Province.
“The mega plan includes the construction of a hydrogen recovery unit (HRU) as well as a residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit, which would help reduce mazut and increase gasoline production,” Hamid Sharif-Razi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The HRU technology is used to separate methane and heavier hydrocarbons from the hydrogen containing gases. RFCC is a process technology for converting heavy oils into more valuable gasoline and lighter products with a catalyst.
Sharif-Razi added that upon the completion of the project, the refinery will raise its propylene production by 1 million tons per year.
Pointing to its mazut output, a heavy low quality fuel oil, he said the product is currently delivered to the southern port of Mahshahr in Khuzestan Province for export.
Abadan Refinery
The official said Abadan Oil Refinery in Khuzestan will be reconstructed by a consortium, which includes the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec).
Abadan Refinery, Iran's oldest crude oil processing facility and once the world's largest oil refinery, is due to be refurbished at an estimated cost of €2.7 billion ($2.87 billion) mostly through Chinese finance and the know-how of Italian, French and Danish companies, according to reports.
“In the first step, Iran’s Bank Mellat opened a $1.1 billion line of credit for the project in March, which took effect two months later,” he said, adding that as per the agreement, the contractor must implement the rehabilitation project in 45 months.
About 45% of the refinery's output are mazut, which is barely worth one-third of crude oil.
Sharif-Razi also pointed to a number of pipeline development projects nationwide.
“Tabriz-Urmia oil pipeline, northwest of Iran, is an NIOEC-led project that so far has made 55% progress,” the official said.
Underscoring the 65% progress of Naein-Kashan-Rey Pipeline project, the official noted that the pipeline is aimed at delivering petroleum products from southern parts of the country to Tehran.
Sharif-Razi also said that upon the completion of Goureh-Jask Pipeline in the southern province of Hormozgan, the pipeline will have the capacity to transfer 1 million barrels per day of heavy crude.