Abadan Refinery

Coordinates: 30°20′45.57″N 48°16′29.3″E / 30.3459917°N 48.274806°E / 30.3459917; 48.274806
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Abadan Refinery
Abadan Refinery, 1970
CountryIran
CityAbadan
Refinery details
Commissioned1912 (1912)
Capacity429,000 bbl/d (68,200 m3/d)

The Abadan refinery (Persian: پالایشگاه آبادان Pālāyeshgāh-e Ābādān) is an oil refinery in Abadan, Iran near the coast of the Persian Gulf.

History[edit]

Built by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later BP) on the basis of a lease obtained in 1909,[1] it was completed in 1912 as a pipeline terminus, and was one of the world's largest oil refineries. In 1927, oil exports from Abadan totalled nearly 4.5 million tons.[1]

The Abadan Refinery in 1950

Its nationalisation in 1951 prompted the Abadan Crisis and ultimately the toppling of the democratically elected[2] prime minister Mossaddegh.[3] The refinery was largely destroyed in September 1980 by Iraq during the initial stages of the Iraqi invasion of Iran's Khuzestan province, triggering the Iran–Iraq War.[citation needed] It had a capacity of 635,000 b/d in 1980 and formed a refinery complex with important petrochemical plants. Its capacity started to bounce back after the war ended in 1988, and was listed in 2013 as 429,000 barrels per day (68,200 m3/d) of crude oil.[4]

In December 2017, Sinopec signed a US$1 billion deal to expand the Abadan refinery.[5] Work on the second phase of the project was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Abadan". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. 1 (14 ed.). 1929. p. 7.
  2. ^ Kamin, Mohammadi; Elliott, Mark (2004-01-01). Iran. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1740594258. OCLC 56651387.
  3. ^ Robarge, David S. (14 April 2007). "Book review: All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, by Stephen Kinzer" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007.
  4. ^ "Home page". Abadan Oil Refining company. 2013. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014.[failed verification]
  5. ^ "Sinopec Signs $1b Abadan Refinery Expansion Deal". Financial Tribune. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Abadan Refinery upgrading project halted temporarily due to coronavirus". Tehran Times. 13 March 2020.

Further reading[edit]

  • J. W. Williamson, In a Persian Oil Field: A Study in Scientific and Industrial Development (E. Benn, 1927; 2nd edition 1930)

External links[edit]

Media related to Abadan Refinery at Wikimedia Commons

30°20′45.57″N 48°16′29.3″E / 30.3459917°N 48.274806°E / 30.3459917; 48.274806