Page 56 - IRANRptMar21

Those mining Bitcoin—a decentralised digital currency without a central bank or single administrator—refer to the “hashrate”. Put simply, the hashrate is a measure of the computing power people plugged into electrical grids around the world are contributing to the mining.
And​ ​here​ and below is that top 10 as calculated by a study from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.
Assessing just how much electricity the 11-year-old global Bitcoin mining industry—with its peer-to-peer electronic cash system—is consuming, the study settles on an annualised estimate of 7.46 GW, equivalent to around 64.83 terawatt-hours of energy consumption (slightly more than the Czech Republic, at 62.34 TWh per year, and Austria, at 64.60 TWh per year consume).
9.2 ​Major corporate news 9.2.1​ Oil & gas corporate news
Iran awards EPC contract as refining levels are maintained
Private Iranian refiner Tehran Oil Refining Co. (TORC) this week awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to the local Chagalesh Consulting Engineers to upgrade gasoline producing units at the facility.
The $240mn contract will see Chagalesh expand gasoline production at the 220,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery by 12%, while increasing the quality of output to Euro-V standard, according to a report by Argus Media, citing TORC. This will lift gasoline output from 6.6mn litres per day (lpd) to 7.5mn lpd and will improve refining margins by around $1 per barrel.
TORC anticipates the project being completed by mid-2024.
Meanwhile, Chagalesh’s contract also provides for the construction of a 14,000 bpd continuous catalytic reforming (CCR) unit increasing the octane level of production from 87Ron to 91Ron, a 16,000 bpd naphtha hydrodesulphurisation unit, a de-ethaniser tower and other ancillary units.
Last week, state-owned National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co. (NIORDC), which oversees TORC’s operations, said that Iran had maintained its refining slate throughout 2020 despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Speaking to state-run energy sector media outlet Shana, Alireza Sadiqabadi, the company’s managing director, said that it was among very few refiners worldwide not to have lowered throughput levels amid the crisis. Meanwhile another state media outlet, IRIB, quoted Nasser Ashouri, secretary-general of Iran’s Oil Refining Industry Companies Association
56​ IRAN Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com