Tehran is in negotiations with various European, Asian, African and American countries to build or buy oil refineries, Mehr news agency reported on Monday.
“Currently, buying stocks of crude oil refineries abroad is one of the policies pursued by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to ensure guaranteed sale of Iranian crude in the long run,' stated Abbas Kazemi, director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC).
At present, the Iranian government is engaging in dialogue with Brazil and Spain.
“We are in negotiations with countries like Brazil and Spain, and have proposed to construct crude oil refineries within the framework of equal shares and partnership. NIORDC mainly undertakes the technical feasibility and economic justifiability of the project while NIOC remains as the key decision maker,” Kazemi said.
He also underlined that South Africa has asked to enhance the quality of its oil refineries with Iranian technology but on condition that the equipment used will be Iranian.
“Iran’s current approach is to invest in the construction of the refineries with the prerequisite that most required equipment will be supplied by Iranian manufacturers,” he maintained.
After the sanctions lift, the development of Iran's industry is one of Tehran's main targets. To this end, Iran has steadily increased its production capacity, reaching 3.13 million barrels per day of oil in February, an increase of 187 thousand b/d from January.
By Ugur Ertas
Anadolu Agency
ugur.ertas@aa.com.tr