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Article: An overhaul long overdue: Iran has big plans for upgrading its refineries--but the cost could prove prohibitive.(Iranian Refineries)
- Article from:
- MEED Middle East Economic Digest
- Article date:
- November 28, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 MEED Middle East Economic Digest. All Rights Reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Take a look at Tehran and the problem becomes instantly apparent. The city is choked up with smog, which on still days even obscures views of the mountains rising high above. The pollution is mainly due to the country's fleet of Peykan cars that belch black smoke from their elderly engines. But it also reflects the sad state of the country's refineries, which produce only poor quality petrol and a large amount of heavy and polluting fuel oil. Perhaps even more shocking, Iran--which holds the world's fifth largest oil reserves--does not produce enough petrol to meet domestic demand.
But--government funding willing--this appaling situation is soon to change. In the ...