Page 12 - DMEA Week 19 2022
P. 12
DMEA REFINING DMEA
Iran lines up Latin American
investments, partnerships
MIDDLE EAST FOLLOWING high-level meetings in Vene- development of 100,000 bpd of refining capac-
zuela last week, Iran has said it is considering ity, which will be expanded during phase 3 to
investing in a new refinery in Nicaragua while 150,000 bpd alongside the integration of pet-
inviting Brazilian companies to invest in its pet- rochemical facilities to produce olefins and
rochemicals sector. polymers.
As part of his tour of Latin America, Iranian Centeno added that a fourth phase is under
Oil Minister Javad Owji met with officials in Nic- evaluation, which would comprise a fuel storage
aragua, where he told reporters that Iran would and distribution plant on Nicaragua’s Caribbean
study a potential investment in an oil refinery at coast and a pipeline connecting it with Miramar.
the Supremo Sueño de Bolivar industrial com- Owji said that the full project would cost a
plex (CIESSB) near Puerto Sandino on the coun- total of $6.6bn.
try’s Pacific coast. Noting that “the government of President
He made the announcement following a [Ebrahim] Raisi sees Nicaragua as a strategic
meeting with Nicaragua’s Minister of Energy partner in the world”, he said Iranian experts
and Mines, Salvador Mansell, and the Minister would analyse the project and “God willing, […]
for Production and Trade, Francisco López, at will start this important work soon.”
CIESSB’s Miramar fuel distribution plant. “We are committed to participating in this
According to Managua, the CIESSB refinery important investment, given our long experi-
will have a crude processing capacity of 150,000 ence in this type of construction and refinery,”
barrels per day (bpd), 50,000 bpd of which will be the Iranian minister told Nicaraguan official
consumed locally, with the remainder available media.
for export to other Central American countries.
The facility’s process co-ordinator Marco Invitation to Brazil
Centeno said: “Originally designed to process While Owji was doing the rounds, the CEO of
crude oil from the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela; Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co.
it is a refinery with a deep conversion configura- (PGPIC) made overtures to Brazilian firms to
tion and the refinery will be capable of produc- invest in the Islamic Republic’s petchem sector.
ing LPG, naphtha, gasoline, Jet-A1, diesel, fuel Speaking to Iranian state media, Abdolali Ali
oil no.6, coke and sulphur and has the capacity to Askari said: “PGPIC has 14 projects under con-
distribute to the national and Central American struction with a domestic return price of at least
market,” Centeno said. 15%, which is a good opportunity for foreign
It comprises three phases. The first is a fuel investment, and in this regard we welcome the
storage and distribution plant – in which invest- investment of Brazilian companies.”
ment has so far amounted to $432mn – capable He noted that PGPIC is the largest company
of receiving LPG, super gasoline, regular gaso- in Iran’s capital market and has invested around
line, diesel and fuel oil. $26bn across various projects over the past 20
The $3.64bn second stage focuses on the years.
P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 19 12•May•2022
