Iran started the construction process for 12 new oil and gas condensate refinery complexes, according to an official of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), Anadolu Agency informed.

NIORDC’s Director of Corporate Planning, Member of the Board of Directors, Arman Moghadam, said presently nine refineries with an aggregate total capacity of 1.73m barrels are functioning across the country, adding “Setare Khalij Fars Gas Condensates Refinery will soon come on stream with a refining capacity of 120,000b/d,” Hellenic Shipping News reported.

The official also stated that the country enjoyed 13,000km of pipelines for transmission of crude and petroleum products; “moreover, more than 5,500 petrol, gas oil, and CNG stations are performing in Iran.”

Moghadam emphasized the need to optimize and renovate Iranian oil refineries in the post-JCPOA era commenting that “besides Setare Khalij Fars complex, construction of a new 30,000-barrel heavy oil refinery in Jask Port has been put on the agenda.”

He further referred to the plan to build Anahita Refinery in Kermanshah Province with a capacity of 150,000 barrels. In addition, he said executive operations for consolidation, optimization, and improvement of production processes had begun at Abadan Oil Refinery with a total capacity of 210,000b/d.

The country thus aims to revive its oil and gas sectors in the aftermath of sanctions relief following the nuclear deal between Iran and P5 +1 countries signed in July 2016.