“So far, Iran has made some negotiations with Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and India in order to buy shares in foreign countries’ oil refineries,” Mir Ali Asghar Sajedi, Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company (NIOEC), told the reporters.
Sajedi emphasized that buying shares in foreign oil refineries aims to ensure sale of the Iranian crude in the long run; “in other words, these investments will guarantee marketing of Iranian crude in different parts of the world for the next 20 to 25 years.”
The official deemed manufacturing and supply of petroleum products as another advantage of buying refinery shares in different countries; “with the construction of the refineries and production of several petrochemicals like gasoline and gas, we can import them to meet domestic needs or export them to target markets,” he noted.
Sajedi further explained the conducted talks with authorities of Sierra Leone on building an oil refinery adding “in the first phase of negotiations, basic agreement was reached to build an oil depot in the African country.”
“If the second phase leads to a conclusion, the feasibility studies for the construction of an oil refinery in the West African country will be carried out,” underlined the official expecting a final agreement to be achieved in near future.
Announcing that the buying of shares and building of oil refineries will only be carried out by the participation of the private sector, Sajedi reminded “during the talks, NIOEC was merely acting in role of the technical expertise.”
NIOEC managing director further pointed out the talks with South Africa over the construction of an oil refinery; “upon reaching an agreement, a new oil refinery will be designed and built in South Africa based on the characteristics of Iranian crude oil,” he concluded.
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