Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.22 / Trend F.Mehdi/
Iranian Oil Ministry has issued permission for building 13 new refineries with a total capacity of 3.5 million barrels, ISNA quoted the deputy oil minister Mohsen Khojastemehr as saying.
The refineries are projected to be constructed by the private sector, he said, adding that the refineries will be fed with crude oil and gas condensates.
Building a new refinery costs a lot, so that some $3 billion is needed for building a refinery with the output of 100,000 barrels.
On February 9, the Mehr News Agency quoted the Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company, Farhad Ahmadi as saying that Iran is now 100 percent self-sufficient in building refinery structures.
"For the first time, Iranian experts managed to design and construct a huge refining tower," he added.
In January, Ahmadi said that Iran has gained the capability to establish refineries in other countries.
"Several requests have been received from the neighboring countries to benefit from Iranian expertise in the refining sector," he added.
Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in May that global sanctions against Iran not only did not have any hindering effect on the country's oil industry, but also have turned the Islamic republic into an exporter of equipment and goods.
Qasemi said that the country is approaching "total self-sufficiency" in the production of equipment required in the country's oil industry.
According to deputy oil minister for technology Mohammad-Reza Moqaddam, Iran plans to become self-sufficient in producing 19 highly used goods which are strategic in the oil industry.
Moqaddam added that technologies for manufacturing the goods should be indigenized by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (2015).
The strategic goods include onshore and offshore drilling rigs, pumps, turbines and precision tools.
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