TEHRAN (Iran News) – The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) and Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development and Renovation (IMIDRO) signed a memorandum of understanding for production of sponge and needle coke in Bandar Abbas and Imam Khomeini Shazand refineries which will render Iran self-sufficient in production of the items used for steel production.

A ceremony was held in Tehran yesterday (Monday) to strike the deal in the presence of Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, the CEO of NIORDC Alireza Sadiqabadi, Reza Rahmani, Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Rahmani, Chairman of IMIDRO Khodada Gharibpour as well as the heads of the two refineries.

By signing this agreement, the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) will cooperate with IMIDRO to launch a coke production unit in the two refineries and the needle and sponge coke required by the steel industry of the country will be produced from low-sulfur fuel oil domestically.

The pilot plant of the unit will be built at RIPI, and with the signing of this MoU, industrial-scale coke units will be contracted in the refineries afterward.

This agreement is of great strategic value for Iran given the U.S. sanctions imposed on the import of pet coke to Iran.

There are at least four basic types of petroleum coke, namely, needle coke, honeycomb coke, sponge coke and shot coke. Different types of petroleum coke have different microstructures due to differences in operating variables and the nature of the feedstock. Significant differences are also to be observed in the properties of the different types of coke, particularly ash and volatile matter contents.

Addressing the ceremony, Zangeneh said the production of sponge and needle coke in the country needs one billion dollars of investment.

He added that it is expected the agreement to turn into a contract and the plan is carried out. The minister said in the past there was a problem in finance but the involvement of the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry in the project has solved the woe of necessary license for production of coke.

Zanganeh added that one of the programs of the ministry is to improve the quality of the outputs of refineries, adding that the ministry is determined to move from producing heavy products to lighter ones while around 6 to 7 million liters of feed is used for production of coke and in such a project, the output mazut from the refineries is decreasing.

He reiterated that the project needs over one billion dollars of investment.

Meanwhile Sadiqabadi, for his part, said that by the agreement which was signed for producing sponge and needle coke, about 620,000 tons of sponge and needle coke in which aluminum industry needs will be produced.

He added that the program for improving the quality and increasing the capacity of the refineries in the country is something that kicked off 18 years ago and necessary initiative plans and technologies regarding the projects were provided. Sadiqabadi further said because of those measures, refining capacity in the country soared from 1.6m barrels of oil per day to 2.3m barrels of crude oil and condensate per day.

He noted that the gasoline capacity of the country was 37m liters per day 18 years ago but it has currently enhanced to around 110m liters per day.

Sadiqabadi also said the amount of mazut production was then around 70m liters and today it has reached 120m liters per day.