Speaking to Shana, Houshang Falahatian said that the deadline for investors to submit their credentials and data for building the projects was June 04.

“Companies with incomplete credentials will have until June 16 to complete their accounts,” he said.

The official said the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum and the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) would start vetting the credentials after the deadline as planned.

In early February, Head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA)’s energy committee, Reza Padidar, had announced that the country’s capable private sector is ready for participation in the petroelum ministry’s refinery and petro-refinery projects.

Back in June 2019, the Research Center of Iran’s parliament said in a report that petro-refineries are two times more profitable than refineries and suggested that National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)’s new refinery projects be defined as petro-refineries.

The report dubbed “Petro-refineries, their role in completing the oil value chain and the status in Iran’s oil industry” stated that constructing petro-refineries is one of the most important ways to alleviate severe economic impacts of price fluctuations and achieve a much higher margin of profit.