Iran has signed a memorandum of cooperation with two Japanese firms to reduce fuel oil production at Bandar Abbas oil refinery.

Reducing the share of fuel oil from the current 30 percent to less than 10 percent marks one of the key policies pursued in Iran’s crude refining industry in the post-JCPOA era.

Accordingly, numerous negotiations have been conducted with companies from South Korea, Japan and China over the past nine months some of which have led to the signing of a number of MoUs between the two sides.

Consequently, Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company has inked a joint memorandum of cooperation with a consortium comprising Japanese and Iranian firms.

Managing Director of Bandar Abbas refinery Hasehm Namvar touched upon the latest status of plans to reduce fuel oil production at his company saying “presently, the final stages of feasibility studies and provision of technical and economic justification reports are in progress.”

The official pointed to plans to increase production quality as fuel oil output reduces asserting “upon implementation, the volume of fuel oil production will drop to less than 10 percent with sulfur content of below one percent.”

Namvar said the research phase of the project is being carried out in partnership with foreign companies maintaining “talks were held with Japanese, Korean and Chinese companies while the MoU was finally sealed with a consortium comprising Iranian and Japanese firms.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Kazemi recently announced that so far seven agreements and contracts have been signed for projects to reduce fuel oil production in existing refineries; “for the case of Bandar Abbas refinery, initial agreement has been reached with two Japanese companies,” he had noted./ MNA