Speaking in a televised program on Monday evening, Bijan Zanganeh said the “strategic decision” to build the new oil terminal has been made by President Hassan Rouhani.
The new terminal on the shores of the Sea of Oman will be used for exporting oil, Zanganeh added, saying the project has been put out to tender, a contract will be signed in the current Iranian year (ends in March 2017), and the construction work will begin next year.
Moreover, an oil refinery with a capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude oil will be built in the vicinity of the new terminal, he added.
In order to feed the terminal, Iran will need to construct a pipeline stretching more than 1,000 kilometers to carry one million barrels of oil a day, Zanganeh went on to say.
In January 2016, Iran’s Oil Ministry said an oil terminal on the shores of the Sea of Oman would remarkably reduce the country’s reliance on the Strait of Hormuz and cut the shipping distance for oil tankers.
According to the ministry, the oil terminal, to be constructed on the coast of Jask, would allow oil tankers to sail 1,000 less miles for loading and reduce shipping costs.