TEHRAN – Head of National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company (NIOEC) Farhad Ahmadi said on Tuesday that 16.5 billion euros (about $18 billion) of new resources will be allocated for the development of the country’s refining industry, Shana reported.

According to Ahmadi, the mentioned budget is allocated for new refinery and petro-refinery projects across the country as well as the construction of new pipelines for the transmission of petroleum products.

“In the coming years, the implementation of several new refining projects in the oil industry have been put on the agenda, for which about 16.5 billion euros (equivalent to 18 billion dollars) will be allocated,” the official told the press.

The NIOEC head mentioned the new 300,000-barrel oil refinery of Shahid Ghasem Soleimani with $11.5 billion of investment, Khuzestan refinery with an initial investment of $4.5 billion, implementing the second phase of the Abadan refinery’s development project with €1.7 billion as some of the mentioned projects and added: "In financing the Shahid Soleimani refinery project, we will use various methods, including bank resources and public funds."

“In this project [Ghasem Soleimani Refinery], we will use the maximum capacity of domestic contractors and manufacturers, and also this project is going to play an important role in the development of domestic industries and job creation in the country's refining and oil industry,” Ahmadi said.

He further mentioned the latest status of his company's ongoing projects, saying: "Nine refining projects are underway in the company, which will be completed within the next six months."

Emphasizing NIOEC’s maximum support of domestic oil industry equipment manufacturers, the official said: "Over the past four months, domestic manufacturers have been participating in seven projects being implemented by the company, and the equipment required for the company's new pipeline projects will also be provided by domestic manufacturers."

EF/MA