Iran Targets 3.5mn b/d Refining Capacity

28 Jan 2022 Issue: 65 / 4 By: Yesar Al-Maleki

Iran plans to increase its refining capacity by 1.2mn b/d over the next four years in a bid to avoid becoming a net gasoline importer. Given the short timeframe and the raft of challenges facing Tehran, it looks like mission impossible.

Iran aims to increase its crude oil refining and condensate processing capacity from the current 2.2mn b/d to 3.5mn b/d by 2025-26, an increase of more than 50%, Petroleum Minister Javad Owji says. Construction at some of the key projects necessary to achieve this is underway, but tight international sanctions mean that the timeframe looks very optimistic. Previous plans for a hike to 3.27mn b/d by 2020 fell well short, and only some of that can be attributed to the return of sanctions in 2018 (MEES, 17 June 2016).

Despite US sanctions prohibiting Iranian oil sales, Iran continues to export gasoline. The ramp up of throughputs at the Persian Gulf Star condensate splitter to 450,000 b/d (for a gasoline output of 309,000 b/d) has greatly boosted Iran’s gasoline output, but with demand back on an upwards trend as the country emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, more capacity is needed to prevent a return to imports. (CONTINUED - 1207 WORDS)