Facing vigorously enforced U.S. sanctions directed principally on oil, Iran is focussing on the less targeted strategic areas in its hydrocarbons business, notably continuing to develop its gas sector and building out its petchems and related capacity. One such area is the generation of sufficient gasoline at least to meet its own needs, as its reliance on other countries during the previous sanctions era was seen as a national humiliation. Despite the worsening sanctions environment, Iran is now not only self-sufficient for gasoline but is rolling out plans to allow it to export the product. All of this is centred on the flagship Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGSR) project, which receives condensate feedstock from the nearby supergiant South Pars natural gas field. The original plan involved a three-phase development, each designed to produce 12 million litres per day (ml/d) of Euro 5 gasoline plus 4.5 ml/d of Euro 4 […]