According to the company, Mohammad-Sadeq Azimifar said strict implementation of the Seventh Development Plan’s obligations—particularly boosting refinery complexity and completing the value chain—remains a firm, nonnegotiable strategy of the Oil Ministry. He noted that while quality upgrades and process optimization are underway at nine oil refineries nationwide, the new administration has operationally prioritized projects to make up for years of delays.

Emphasizing that the time for trial and error has ended, Azimifar said the first tangible result of this approach was the successful commissioning of the Shiraz refinery’s diesel hydrotreating (DHT) unit, with a capacity of 26,000 barrels per day, in June 2025. The project enables production of Euro 5–standard diesel while meeting both economic and environmental requirements and has been operating steadily this winter.

He added that the Shiraz refinery’s isomerization unit entered service during the early months of the 14th administration, bringing the refinery’s entire 1.65 million liters of output up to Euro-standard quality. In addition, the Abadan refinery’s isomax unit came online in 2024, boosting daily diesel output by 3 million liters.

Turning to the Tehran refinery, Azimifar said the second phase focuses on completing the continuous catalytic reforming (CCR) unit and upgrading gasoline quality, with the project targeted for commissioning in the first half of next year. Once operational, the CCR project is expected to increase output by about 20% while upgrading all gasoline produced to international standards and supporting implementation of the Clean Air Law.

Describing the Isfahan refinery project as a cornerstone of the Seventh Development Plan, he said the fundamental solution for quality improvement and cutting fuel oil production lies in the refinery’s residue hydro-upgrading (RHU) and residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) projects. With technical hurdles resolved and a precise timeline in place, the early phase of the strategic project is set to enter operation by the end of 2026, reducing sulfur content in fuel oil from 30,000 parts per million to less than 500 ppm—a significant step toward lowering emissions.