Iran plans to increase its refining capacity for crude and condensate by more than 70 per cent within the next four years in a move aimed at reducing gasoline imports, Gulf Times Qatar quoted a top official as saying.

The Islamic Republic will raise capacity from the current 1.85 million barrels per day (bpd) to about 3.2 million bpd by 2020 by building five plants, Abbas Kazemi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Co, was quoted in the report.

Iran also needs about $14 billion in investment to upgrade units at five existing refineries to produce gasoline that burns more cleanly than grades currently available in the country, he said.

One of the new refineries with 360,000 bpd capacity is scheduled to start operating by next March, Kazemi said.

Private companies are developing the Siraf condensate refinery complex, he added, pointing out that the planned complex of eight units, each with a capacity of 60,000 bpd, will process condensate from South Pars into naphtha.

The refineries to be upgraded are at Isfahan, Tabriz, Tehran, Bandar Abbas and Abadan, Kazemi said.

Japanese engineering company Chiyoda Corp is conducting a feasibility study with Mitsui & Co on the Bandar Abbas project, according to a Chiyoda spokesman.

Daelim Industrial Co, based in South Korea, and Marubeni Corp and Mitsubishi Corp, both with headquarters in Japan, are also interested in working on refinery projects in Iran, Kazemi said.

Iran plans also to build three new refineries, including the 300,000-bpd Bahmangenoo plant at the port of Jask, a 150,000-bpd facility at Anahita in western Kermanshah province, and the Pars refinery, which will process 120,000 bpd of condensate, the report said.