Thanks to its expertise, NIOEC is currently operating major national refining projects as well as renovating Venezuela’s El Palito refinery. NIOEC has overcome rivals in Venezuela’s refining sector. Farhad Ahmadi, the CEO of NIOEC, has said that NIOEC is the only company endowed with international finance. Thanks to its certificates and experience, he said, NIOEC is rivaling many foreign companies.

1,000 Iranian firms involved

NIOEC’s ability to operate refining and oil pipeline projects has empowered it to handle overseas projects. In May 2022, a high-ranking Iranian delegation visited Venezuela, signing agreements for the overhaul of the El Palito refinery.  

“In this project, many documents of various units of this refinery had been modified over years, which were all regulated. Some systems that had been modified were revamped,” said Ahmadi.

He said a Venezuelan delegation visited Tehran, demanding that NIOEC repair the refinery for an instantaneous glitch.

“To that end, 1,900 items of equipment, not included in the overhaul and renovation contract, were supplied to the refinery. They were all necessary and were supplied by September 2022. Without these items, the refinery would be put out of service,” he added.

Ahmadi said it took time to supply so many items to the refinery, adding: “Over 3-4 months, representatives from the El Palito refinery visited Iranian plants and industries to get familiar with various Iranian industries. Locally manufactured equipment was introduced to them to ensure them about the capability of Iranian industry.”

“More than 2 million items of equipment would be provided to this refinery. Talks have been held with 1,800 Iranian companies, 1,000 of which are already involved in this project,” he added.

Ahmadi said: “Iranian brands are now active in Venezuela, which would be providing logistics in the future.”

He said that a good market has been created for Iranian companies in Venezuela.

1,800 tonnes of Iranian commodities

Ahmadi said 1,800 tonnes of Iranian commodities had been delivered to the El Palito refinery, which would reach 4,000-5,000 tonnes in 3 to 4 months.

He said that 55% of necessary commodities had been delivered, with the rest on the way towards the destination.

Ahmadi said due to some modifications in the refinery overhaul by the client, some new items would be also provided.

The El Palito refinery may treat 140 tb/d of oil, he said, adding the facility was currently running at 70 tb/d capacity.

“We are ready for the overhaul of the refinery. We are waiting for the client’s green light. Some changes in the management of the refinery changed our plans,” he said.

“Many foreign companies were bidding for the refining project in Venezuela, but we overcame them,” said Ahmadi.

Iranian engineers win praise

Iranian engineers were praised for supplying equipment for the reparation of the FCC unit. Iranian engineers had no plan to repair this unit, but they did so upon request by the Venezuelan party.

The FCC unit is used for gasoline production at a refinery. An Iranian company has manufactured a compressor for this refinery. The compressor was designed by an NIOEC technical team.

This compressor’s input is LPG and liquids. It can be used at Iranian refineries, too. The advantage of this compressor is that it has allayed flare gas concerns.

The future is bright for Iranian engineers to be present in Latin American refining projects.

Ahmadi said that NIOEC had held fruitful talks with three other refineries in Latin America for prospective cooperation.

Iran Petroleum