Difficulties obtaining technology from abroad as a result of Western sanctions and insufficient funding have hindered Iran's ambitious plans to increase its domestic oil refinery capacity. It aims to end its dependency on imported fuels which Western governments have tried to prevent Iran from obtaining.

Hashem Namvar, managing director of the Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company, told Shana on Sunday that recent upgrades had raised the refinery's capacity by 15,000 bpd to 335,000 bpd since mid-April, and that refining would further increase to 345,000 bpd of oil by late November.