Iran to invest $ 1.1 bn in lanka’s refinery project

Sri Lanka: Referring to the recent MoU signed by Iran and Sri Lanka for expanding the capacity of a 50,000 bpd oil refinery in Sri Lanka to 100,000 bpd, Hossein Noghrehkar Shirazi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs, said: 'Some $ 1.1 Bln will be invested in this joint project, 30% of which will be provided by Iran and the rest will come from Sri Lanka'.

He explained that the project would take six years to complete and Iran would be supplying 50,000 bpd of the refinery's feed, reported IranOilGas.

Touching on Iran-Venezuela energy cooperation, Noghrehkar said National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and the Venezuelan oil company (PDVSA) had established a joint tanker company to carry crude within South America, elaborating: 'The new company will start by hiring four tankers, which will need $ 24 Mln investment'.

He also said Iran's IOEC and SADRA were talking with Venezuelan authorities on fabrication of offshore platforms, tugboats, jetties, etc, adding: 'SADRA has already opened an office in Venezuela and IOEC is opening one too'.