Mideast Biggest Oil Refinery in Shazand

The biggest oil refinery of the Middle East will be inaugurated in Shazand, Markazi province, during the ten-day celebrations of the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution (February 1-11).
Two projects with an estimated investment of $ 3.5 billion at the Shazand Oil Refinery in the central Iranian city of Arak will be officially inaugurated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the 10-day celebrations commemorating the anniversary of the Islam Revolution Victory (30 Jan -11Feb), Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.
The new development plans at the oil refinery, which will increase the oil production capacity of the country to more than 17 million liters per day, are focused on reduction of sulfur and other pollutants in order to get Euro-5 standard in production of petrol for cars.
The Euro-5 is one of the European emission standards which define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of automobiles. The emission standards are defined in a series of European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards.
Another significant plan is the production of the Propene, also known as Propylene, which is a waste product created when crude oil is refined into gasoline, diesel fuel and other products.
In December, the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company Managing Director Farid Ameri said that Iran will increase its fuel storage capacity by 5 billion barrels to reach over 16.7 billion liters.
The current storage capacity of oil products in the country is around 11.5 billion liters, but it will reach 16.7 billion liters by the end of the Fifth Five Year Development Plan (2010-2015), he added.
Earlier in July, Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami said Iran would invest $46 billion for the development and optimization of its refineries.
Seven refineries are currently under construction in Iran, which will make the country self-sufficient in gasoline production in two years, Zeighami told reporters at a press conference at the time.
Approximately $8.5 billion of the $26 billion required for the refinery construction project has already been spent, he noted.
Iran’s daily gasoline production currently stands at 45 million liters, although the country consumes 65 million liters per day, but when the new refineries come on stream in two years, gasoline production will increase by 25 million liters per day, he added.
In April, Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi announced Iran plans to privatize all its refineries and petrochemical units.
Iran, the world’s fifth-largest crude exporter, is seeking to speed up the sale of state assets in a bid to encourage private investment and boost the economy.
"The work on ceding (ownership of) oil companies has begun and based on plans, all petrochemical units and refineries will be ceded, including service, drilling and support companies,” Mehr News Agency quoted Mirkazemi as saying at the time.

+++