Iran’s refineries are far from Nelson’s global standard; the future of the refining industry is uncertain

According to Energy Press, the technical capacity of refineries in the world is measured by the Nelson Complexity Index. The higher the complexity index of a refinery, the greater its ability to produce diverse and complex products; products that require advanced technologies and create higher added value for the country’s economy. For this reason, refineries with a high Nelson Index play an important role in increasing profit margins and meeting domestic demand for advanced products.
In Iran, however, this index is significantly different from the global average. The average complexity index of Iranian refineries is only 6, while advanced refineries in the world have achieved a number of about 14. Among the country’s refineries, Shazand Arak has the highest rank with an index of 10, and Abadan has the lowest rank with an index of 4. This situation has caused the majority of crude oil entering the country’s refining cycle to be converted into low-value and traditional products.
Morteza Behrouzifar, an energy expert, emphasized in an interview with us: “A significant portion of Iran’s refineries date back three decades or even more, and no serious changes have occurred in them during this period. Even the transfer to the private sector did not help with modernization, because no new investment was made in this area and the private sector did not have sufficient motivation for this work.”