Page 10 - DMEA Week 21 2022

DMEA REFINING DMEA

Iran continues refining

push with Lavan studies

MIDDLE EAST IRAN’S Lavan Oil Refining Co. (LORC) has In February, Oil Minister Javad Owji said
begun engineering studies for the development that refining capacity would expand by around
of a new 150,000 barrel per day (bpd) facility on 200,000 bpd in the next two or three years. “We
the island of the same name in the Persian Gulf. have signed contracts for an additional 1.46mn
The company’s managing director Moham- bpd to be implemented in a period of four to six
mad-Ali Akhbari said this week that the National years for refineries that produce feedstock for
Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Co. petrochemical plants,” he added, noting that
(NIOEC) has kicked off the studies and negoti- each 100,000 bpd increment would cost around
ations have been held with local banks to fund $2.5-3bn, inferring a total outlay of $36.5-43.8bn.
the project. Meanwhile, the following month, the MoP
He asked for assistance from the Ministry of announced it had received budgetary approval
Petroleum (MoP) and LORC’s parent firm the to expand refining capacity by 300,000 bpd, with
National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) in allocating private sector and foreign investment likely to be
land but noted that some permits have been sought.
received and tenders are being prepared. The head of the National Iranian Oil Engi-
The facility will be located near the existing neering and Construction Co. (NIOEC), Far-
Lavan refinery, which was originally built in had Ahmadi, then said that $18bn would be
1951 with a capacity of 20,000 bpd. It is now spent on upgrading the country’s refineries and
capable of processing 35,000 bpd of crude piped associated infrastructure, covering the 360,000
to the facility from Lavan Island storage facili- bpd Abadan refinery ($1.85bn), a facility of
ties, and 20,000 bpd of condensate tanked to the unspecified capacity in Khuzestan ($4.5bn) and
island from the South Pars gas field. the Soleimani unit.
Work is also set to begin on the 300,000 bpd National Iranian Oil Refining and Distri-
Shahid Ghasem Soleimani refinery alongside the bution Co. (NIORDC) said in April that the
360,000 bpd Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGSR) Abadan Refinery Development and Stabilisa-
in the wider Bandar Abbas refining complex on tion Project is 92% complete and will be finalised
Iran’s southern coast. during the summer.
The refinery, named in honour of Islamic “The venture includes the installation of new
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general units, including hydrogen processing, hydroc-
Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated in early racking, liquefied petroleum gas [LPG], crude
2020, will be constructed at an estimated cost of distillation and other utilities to replace old units
$11.5bn. built 70 years ago,” he said.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 21 26•May•2022