Reza Cheraghi said Tuesday, during a meeting with government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, that Shazand is among the country’s largest privately owned refineries, with a daily crude processing capacity of 265,000 barrels. The refinery produces five main products — gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, LPG and jet fuel — while about 10% of output is converted into specialty products such as normal hexane, normal pentane, sulfur, propylene and other specialty fuels.

Cheraghi said a major overhaul — one of the Middle East’s most complex maintenance projects — was completed with domestic and foreign teams and without any fatalities. He said the work significantly improved gasoline output and overall product quality.

He added that quality-upgrading phases have reduced fuel oil output to the lowest level in the country, with more than 90% of production now dedicated to primary products. LPG flaring had been a key challenge at the Imam Khomeini Shazand refinery, he said, but none was burned over the past year, with all LPG sold through coordination with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.

Low-sulfur fuel oil supplied to power plants

Cheraghi said environmental projects are underway to recycle water and reduce withdrawals from surface sources, minimizing reliance on the Kamal Saleh Dam. Steam produced at the refinery is also recovered and reused as process water.

He said the refinery is self-sufficient in electricity and has injected about 12 megawatts per day into the national grid over the past five months — enough to power roughly 65,000 homes — helping reduce outages in Markazi province.

Cheraghi said supplying low-sulfur fuel oil to power plants is among the refinery’s most important steps to bolster energy resilience and cut pollution. With support from the Oil Ministry, the national refining and distribution company, the Markazi governor and provincial lawmakers, more than 420 million liters of low-sulfur fuel oil have been allocated to five power plants, contributing to cleaner air and more reliable fuel supply.