National Iranian Oil Co. will lose control of the country's eight refineries after criticism of its marketing policies led to an internal review of the company's performance by Iran's president, Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The Weekly Petroleum Argus, London, said the refineries will operate as separate commercial units divorced from NIOC. It added that the future of Oil Minister Gholamreza Aghazadeh remains uncertain and is unlikely to be resolved until after Iranian elections Apr. 10. Loss of the downstream business will be partly offset by returning control of National Iranian Tanker Co. and National Iranian Offshore Co. to NIOC.
NIOC has been heavily criticized in Iran after product shortages during the winter led to rioting in Tehran. Its policy of establishing large volumes of floating crude stocks last year and delays in establishing a trading operation in London also were faulted.
NIOC is opposed to a greater role for Bonyad Mostazafin, which oversees Iran's foreign trade. The organization was instructed to establish an oil trading division to export fuel oil and resume talks on joint marketing ventures with western product traders. Weekly Petroleum Argus said the setbacks in crude marketing are understood to have cost the Iranian government about $3 billion in revenues.
Rafsanjani is thought to favor maximizing revenues by hedging part o the country's oil sales on future and forward markets.
Some members of Majlis (parliament) want a greater role for private Iranian companies to break NIOC's control of product imports.
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