Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh, attending a ceremony to break grounds for the project, said by the time the project reaches fruition, the refinery will become a profitable facility with a daily refining capacity of 360,000 barrels.
The plant is now processing 150,000 b/d of crude oil.
The refinery registers a yearly loss of $600 to $700 million dollars.
Production of Euro-5 petrol, reduction of environmentally harmful emissions, raising production of gasoil and gasoline, reduction of fuel oil production of the refinery, and renovation of worn-out units of the facility are the top objectives of the project.