Shazand Refinery Cuts Mazut Output

"This amount is at least three times less than in other refineries," Alireza Amin was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Shazand (Imam Khomeini) Refinery receives 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day as feedstock of which 7% is converted to mazut.

"Safeguarding the environment and preventing wastage of fuel have indeed become a cause of concern," Financial Tribune quoted Amin as saying.

Iran's mazut output, a heavy low quality fuel oil, is either delivered to the southern port of Mahshahr in Khuzestan Province for export or sent to power plants to run their turbines. More than 90% of power stations in Iran are gas-powered.

Other refineries that earlier started to implement the  ‘zero-mazut plan’ include Tehran, Isfahan and Tabriz in East Azarbaijan Province and Abadan in Khuzestan Province.

According to the CEO, Shazand's daily gasoline output is 17 million liters and meets Euro-4 emission standards. 

The plant's Euro-4 gasoline production last year was  5.2 billion liters – 20% of the country's total consumption, which was 250 billion liters.

It also produced 4 billion liters of diesel plus 430,000 liters of kerosene, he noted.

Amin said in the 12 months close to 1.2 million cubic meters of liquefied gas was supplied by the complex.

The refinery's annual granular sulfur and propylene output has reached 400 tons and 500 tons, respectively.

Energy experts, including Abbas Kazemi, a former head of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, have warned that high mazut output in refineries is their Achilles’ heel and can substantially cut into their profit margins.

According to NIORDC, Iran’s large refining capacity notwithstanding, the losses sustained by some refiners outweigh their profit because they do not have access to advanced technology to convert mazut into gasoline.