Iran to seek investors for $3bn refinery project

Bloomberg

Iran will seek international investors for a $3 billion refinery project in the country’s south as the Persian Gulf nation looks to boost sales of its oil and natural gas products in Asia.
The refining complex on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast will seek to raise as much as 80 percent of the capital needed from international partners or financiers, Alireza Sadeghabadi, managing director of Siraf Refineries Infrastructure Co., said in an interview in Tehran. Siraf
will issue a tender in two to three months to invite potential investors and partners, with companies and lenders
in Japan and South Korea showing interest, he said.
Iran is ramping up its energy industry after international sanctions restricting its access to financing and global oil markets were lifted in January. Since then, the country has boosted oil output to near pre-sanctions levels and raised natural gas production at the South Pars gas field on the Gulf coast. Siraf will produce naphtha, mainly used in chemical plants, from condensate, a liquid oil found in the vast offshore gas deposits.
“The project is based on a decision to turn condensate within the country
to products with higher added value
and avoid its sale as raw material,” Sadeghabadi said.
“Despite anticipated high supply
of naphtha, there will be a proportionate high demand for naphtha with its
extensive application in plastic-based products.”