Iran is expanding its refining projects, with the Homs refinery being their main focus. It has received requests from various countries for refining cooperation and is in the process of finalizing a contract with Syria.

“Iran has requests from countries such as Nicaragua, Cuba, South Africa, and Central Asian countries for refining cooperation, while noting that the main option will be Homs refinery,” said Ali Shahverdi, an official source told IRNA news agency.

“We are reaching a contract with Syria like the one with Venezuela’s El Palito refinery,” Shahverdi added.

The El Palito refinery is Iran’s first ever overseas refining project, and in the first phase, they have increased its capacity from 20,000 barrels to 80,000 barrels.

The development of the Homs refinery will also include an increase in capacity, with the first phase reaching 120,000 barrels. Once both projects are complete, Iran will be exporting 120,000 barrels of oil from the El Palito refinery and 140,000 barrels from the Homs refinery.

Iran has plans to begin operations at the Banias refinery in Syria after the completion of the Homs refinery, as Shahverdi noted.