Mohammad-Sadeq Azimifar made the remarks Wednesday, during a meeting on investment projects in the oil, gas and solar energy sectors in Fars Province, attended by members of the Parliament’s Energy Committee and provincial officials.

Azimifar said that the overall condition of Iran’s refining and distribution chain has improved considerably this year, largely due to recent initiatives.

He identified the growth in fuel reserves for power plants as a key indicator of refinery performance. The total stock of gas oil stored for power generation in Fars Province has reached 186 million liters, equivalent to 87% of the effective tank capacity. This figure is 2.5 times higher than the same period last year and up 40% compared to 2023.

Fuel storage in Fars Province up 83%

The managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) noted that fuel storage capacity for gasoline and gas oil in Fars Province has increased 83% year over year — a major boost to the reliability of fuel supplies in both the province and the country.

Azimifar added that the Shiraz refinery, one of Fars Province’s key refining centers, has achieved significant milestones over the past year, including the launch of an isomerization unit that enabled the local production and distribution of Euro-grade gasoline for the first time. The refinery’s DHT unit, which will convert all its gas oil output to Euro-5 standard, is also nearing completion.

He said Iran currently uses nearly 17,000 road tankers, about 3,000 rail tankers and 15,000 kilometers of pipeline to transport petroleum products. The sector’s biggest challenge, he added, remains its high dependency on road tankers and their associated costs. For that reason, expanding the product pipeline network is one of NIORDC’s top priorities.

1,000 km of pipeline commissioned in one year

Azimifar said that in the past year alone, nearly 1,000 kilometers of crude oil and petroleum product pipelines — representing about €800 million in investment — have been commissioned. These include the Bandar Abbas–Rafsanjan pipeline, the Sabzevar–Shazand pipeline and the Goreh–Jask branch line to Bandar Abbas.

He explained that only one-third of Fars Province’s fuel demand is met locally at the Shiraz refinery, while the remaining two-thirds are transported by tanker from Hormozgan Province and Bandar Abbas — a costly process for the government. Once the Pars pipeline (Mehraran–Fasa–Shiraz) becomes operational, it will cut the use of fuel tankers by about 60 million liters annually.

The Pars pipeline project, spanning 400 kilometers with a daily capacity of 73,000 barrels, is expected to generate annual savings of more than 4 trillion tomans. With an estimated investment of €150 million, the project will be executed under an EPC contract by Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters over 36 months.

Azimifar said Khatam al-Anbia has a proven track record in major oil industry projects and that this initiative will also be pursued in a “jihadi” spirit of rapid, results-oriented execution. He added that close cooperation among the project’s stakeholders — especially the National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company and Khatam al-Anbia — will ensure the pipeline is completed in the shortest possible time.