<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile — Iran plans to surpass Saudis in refining capacity by 2012

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Friday, September 19, 2008 Free Headline Alerts

NICOSIA — Iran has pledged to become the biggest oil refiner in the Gulf by 2012.

Officials said Iran plans to increase oil refinery capacity from the current 2.1 million barrels to 3.3 million barrels per day by 2012. They said this would surpass the refinery capability of neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Iran has nine refineries and plans to construct another seven.

Aminollah Eskandari, director at the state-owned Refinery and Oil Products Distribution Co., said Iran was the leading investor in the refinery sector in the Gulf.

Eskandari said Iran would surpass Saudi Arabia in refinery capacity in 2012. Riyad plans to reach a refinery capability of three million barrels of oil per day by 2015.

"Given the economic growth of big consumers such as India and China, oil producing countries have made huge investments in oil refining," Eskandari told a Sept. 16 news conference.

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