SHANA - Iran is planning to facilitate implementation of major refining projects by making National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company a profitable entity.

Addressing a ceremony to welcome Hamid Reza Karimi Jafari, the newly appointed CEO of the NIOECC, Alireza Sadiqabadi, the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Products Refinery and Distribution Company (NIORDC), said that profitability was the main concern in research-oriented companies.

�Following a growth and campaign that started 6 months ago in NIOECC�s projects, the company will soon turn into a profitable entity and we will witness a major development in the country�s refining projects,� said the NIORDC CEO on Saturday evening.

Referring to a project to boost the output of Bandar Abbas refinery, he said that in cooperation with the NIOECC, on Friday, the Naphtha Hydrogenation Unit of Bandar Abbas Refinery came online and the daily sulfur content of the refinery came down from 350 ppm to less than 50 ppm.

He further announced that the refinery's catalyst loading would be completed within the next month, adding that 12 million liters of gasoline per day output of the facility would meet Euro 4 standards and the 16 million liters/day of gasoil produced by the refinery would be Euro 4 with a sulfur content of 50 ppm.

Deputy Petroleum Minister for Oil Refining and Distribution Affairs named Bahmanshir Water Project and the Distillation Unit of the Isfahan Refinery as other successful projects by NIOECC, and said: "We have tapped all our capabilities to convert this company into a profitable entity.�

Mr. Sadiqabadi, referring to enhanced gasoline production in the country from an average of 62 million liters per day to 94 mld, said that in recent months there has been a significant increase in gasoline production in the country.

The official said the development plan of Abadan Refinery was one of the highly prioritized projects by NIORDC, and added: "By completing section two of Phase 2 of the Abadan Refinery Development Plan and Phase 4 of this project, in the near future, the refinery's fuel oil output will be reduced and it will become a more profitable facility."

Sadiqabadi noted the next priority of NIORDC as the development project of Tehran Refinery. "This project is one of the major refining projects in the country, which will convert its gasoline output to Euro 4 by setting up its NHT and CCR units.�

He emphasized that the development of the project in this refinery would, in addition to positive environmental impacts, make the refinery more profitable and reduce the costs of the transfer of petroleum products in the country.