SHANA -- Tabriz Oil Refinery is planning to launch a new gasoil desulfurization unit which will add to the facility's Euro-5 gasoil output by 6 million liters per day.

The unit has been pre-commissioned and is currently supplying 2.5 to 3 ml/d of the item which will reach 6 ml/d by the time it is fully operational, the plant's CEO Gholamreza Bagheri Dizaj said in a press conference on Sunday.

He said an investment of 42 million euros had been made in the project by the facility, adding it was licensed by France's Axens.

He further said that the plant was also launching a base-oil unit for production of petroleum products from fuel oil, saying the project was built with the cooperation of a knowledge-based company as well as the Research Center of Petroleum Industry (RIPI).

Mr. Bagheri added that the unit was being developed for production of 270,000 tons/year of products but was currently yielding 90,000 tons/year.

Over 90 percent of the facility's output is consumed as fuel, adding the complex supplied 5.5 million tons of items annually which include liquefied petroleum gas (LPG--300,000 liters/day), petrol (3.5 ml/d), kerosene (1 ml/d) and fuel oil (4 ml/d).

He went on to add that the refinery has so far invested 500 million euros on environmental projects including a sulfur granulation unit, a high-quality petrol production unit and a bitumen-production unit.

The facility has also spent 5 million euros on gathering associated gases which is unparalleled among refineries in the country.

Bagheri further said it was in talks with a number of leading international companies for investing in a �1.5-billion project for bringing the quality of all the facility's output up to Euro-5 standards.