China helped Iran finance the largest refinery in Mideast
Thursday, February 10, 2011 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
NICOSIA — Iran has launched what officials said was the largest oil refinery in the Middle East.
Officials said the Imam Khomeini refinery in Shazand would reach a refining capacity of 250,000 barrels per day by September.
The expansion of Khomeini cost $3.3 billion, officials said. They said a third of the project was financed by China's state-owned Sinopec as part of strategic relations between Beijing and Teheran.
They said the refinery, inaugurated on Feb. 4, would eventually produce 16 million liters of gasoline per day.
The current capacity of Khomeini has been 170,000 barrels per day. Officials said Iran, a major importer, has reached self-sufficiency in gasoline.