09-04-08 Iran plans to invest between EUR 17 bn-EUR 18 bn in its downstream oil sector until 2012 to upgrade existing refineries and build new ones, an Iranian oil executive said.
Speaking at the World National Oil Companies congress in London, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, managing director of state-owned National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company, said the investments would revamp Iran's nine existing facilities and construct five new plants.

The refineries would help Iran wean itself off oil product imports, he said. Despite being a major oil exporter, the country last year imported 16 mm litres of gasoline a day and 10 mm litres of gasoil a day.
Iran also aims to remove domestic subsidies from gasoline and gasoil by 2012, Nematzadeh. Retail gasoline prices in Iran are currently around $ 0.40 a gallon.