Addressing the parliament on Monday, Mr. Zangeneh assured the representatives that the country could currently supply the needed fuel for ocean-going vessels with less than half a percent of sulfur content.

He pointed out that in 2017, the daily production of fuel oil in the world was 1 million tons per day, of which only 2% had a sulfur content of less than half a percent in accordance with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards. “Totally, two thirds of the total fuel oil consumed as fuel for vessels had a sulfur content of over 2.5 percent.”

The official further said that Iranian refineries currently had the capacity to supply 40,000 tons of fuel oil of which 13,000 tons/d were produced and re-processed at Abadan Refinery. Iran is now also producing 20,000 tons of high-sulfur fuel oil.

The Iranian Minister of Petroleum further asserted that Iran would need a $10b investment to upgrade refineries in order to produce more low-sulfur fuel of vessels.