The Persian Gulf Star Refinery, Iran’s flagship project to achieve gasoline self-sufficiency, is ready to enter the distribution phase, according to a senior executive from the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company (NIORDC).

Located at Bandar Abbas, the refinery has a capacity of 360,000 barrels a day (b/d) and is the first of its kind in Iran to be designed to operate on gas condensate feedstock.

“We can say that NIOPTC [National Iranian Oil Pipelines & Telecommunications Company], one of the main subsidiaries of NPC [National Petrochemical Company], is ready for the ownership and transfer of oil products from the Gulf,” says Reza Dargahi, senior process engineer, corporate planning management at NIORDC.

“If it is necessary, we will transfer this product to the downstream of Iran, because we’re planning for the exporting of products on the Gulf,” he added, speaking on the sidelines of the Argus Middle East Gulf & Indian Ocean Oil Products Conference in Dubai.

The distillation unit of the refinery came onstream on 19 October, according to Shana, the news agency affiliated with Iran’s Petroleum Ministry.

The unit has a refining capacity of 120,000 b/d of gas condensates and an initial daily production capacity of 12 million litres of naptha, 4.5 million litres of gasoline, 3.5 million litres of kerosene and 300,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The project is 85 per cent completed, and the refinery’s first phase, with a production capacity of 120,000 b/d, is more than 95 per cent complete, Persian Gulf Star Refinery’s managing director Ahmad Adib told the Tehran Times.

“The project started 10 years ago. From that time we had to apply to increase the capacity of the pipeline and oil network in Iran,” says Dargahi

“We have developed this facility and oil product pipeline, and many new oil depots in Iran,” he added.

The second phase of the project, which would add 24 million litres a day, was due to come online in September 2016. However, there has been no update on its progress. The final phase of the project is planned to add 12 million litres a day and is due to become operational in March 2017.

Iran currently imports approximately 5 million litres a day to meet demand. When completed, the Persian Gulf Star Refinery would allow Iran to export 3-4 million b/d of gasoline.