Refineries in Iran

Iran has nine major oil refineries; all are owned and operated by the National Iranian Oil Company and its subsidiaries.

=Abadan Refinery= The Abadan refinery, located on an island near the Iran-Iraq border, 53 kilometers (km) from the Persian Gulf and 675 km south-southwest of Tehran, has a production capacity of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is the oldest in the Middle East, having come on stream in 1912. Abadan's products include liquid petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline, ATK, light naphtha, heavy naphtha, kerosene, gas oil, petrochemical feedstock, lube oil, fuel oil, and bitumen. The refinery is operated by the Abadan Oil Refining Company (AORC).

The refinery began with a daily refining capacity of 2,000 bpd, a figure which rose to 650,000 bpd prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, making it, according to the oil ministry website Shana, the largest refinery in the world at the time. At the climax of its activity, the Abadan refinery produced 134 types of oil products daily, including gasoline, tar, solvents, engine oil, and several types of gas oil, and kerosene, all of which were used for export. In the 1950s, Abadan was a major supplier of aviation fuel in the eastern hemisphere.

The refinery played a central role in the so-called "Abadan Crisis" that took place from 1951 to 1954, after Iran nationalised its oil industry, which saw Britain impose full economic sanctions against Iran. In reaction to the nationalisation British warships imposed a blockade on the port at Abadan, and after withdrawing all British personnel from Iranian oil fields, Britain left a hard core of 300 administrators at Abadan to protect British interests. The crisis came to a conclusion in 1954, when the Iran's nationalisation champion, Mohammed Mossadegh, was overthrown in a British- and American-supported coup d'etat. The refinery was then the target of extensive attacks during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988, which destroyed many of its installations.

Expansion
There have been efforts to expand the Abadan refinery since 2003. A first expansion phase was a $100 million project which began in 2003 and was completed in 2005, with the second phase completed a year later. The second phase, to increase gasoline and diesel production, involved the removal of older units and the construction of new ones at a cost of $1.5 billion. In December 2011, the oil ministry website Shana reported that the refinery would raise its daily output of high-octane gasoline by almost 12,600 barrels by January 2012. A new refinery complex at Abadan was also under construction as of December 2011, which upon completion would increase Abadan's daily production of 94-octane gasoline to nearly 38,000 barrels. The first phase of the expansion plan came on stream in June 2011, with a production capacity of about 26,400 bpd.

=Esfahan Refinery= The Esfahan refinery, located about 340 km south of Tehran, is Iran's second-largest with a 265,000 bpd production capacity. The refinery was established in 1976 and came on stream in 1979, receiving its crude oil feedstock from the Maroon and Shadegan fields. Esfahan's products include liquid petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline, light naphtha, light jet fuel, ATK, petrochemical feedstock, kerosene, gas oil, lube oil, fuel oil, and asphalt. The refinery is operated by the Esfahan Oil Refining Company (EORC). Esfahan is also the site of a uranium refining facility, according to the news website Global Post.

=Bandar Abbas Refinery= The Bandar Abbas refinery, located about 1,400 km south of Tehran, came on stream in 1997 and has a production capacity of 232,000 bpd. The refinery's main products include LPG, gasoline, heavy jet fuel, kerosene, gas oil, fuel oil, and asphalt. The refinery is operated by NIOC subsidiary Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company (TORC).

=Tehran Refinery= The Tehran refinery, also known as Shahid Tondgoyan, is located in Iran's capital city and came on stream in 1969. With a production capacity of 225,000 bpd, the refinery's main products include LPG, jet fuel, gasoline, light naphtha, kerosene, gas oil, light and heavy fuel oil, lube cut, and asphalt. The refinery is operated by NIOC subsidiary Tehran Oil Refining Company (TORC).

=Additional refineries=
 * Arak Refinery: 150,000 bpd production capacity


 * Tabriz Refinery: 112,000 bpd


 * Shiraz Refinery: 40,000 bpd


 * Lavan Refinery: 20,000 bpd


 * Kermanshah Refinery: 21,000 bpd

=External Links= National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company website: niordc.ir/index.aspx?siteid=77&pageid=536

=References=