Iran's NIOC chief says the South Pars phase 14 refinery rebuild has made significant progress and oil exports never stopped

Hamid Bovard, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, said on Friday 31 July 2026, after visiting the damaged South Pars refineries, that the rebuilding of the phase 14 refinery has made significant progress. The report was published by Mehr News Agency citing Iran's oil ministry.

Bovard said the country's gas production capacity in the South Pars area was affected by damage from wartime strikes, but that the situation was brought under control and the public felt minimal impact. He said production at the South Pars gas platforms continued alongside major platform overhauls and debris clearance at the damaged refineries.

He added that development work did not stop under wartime conditions, that one offshore platform was installed during that period, and that oil exports continued without interruption. Bovard also said Pars Oil and Gas Company is drawing on its experience rebuilding the phase 14 refinery, damaged in the twelve day war, as it works on the refineries damaged in the latest round, and described the National Iranian Oil Company's silence about its activities in this period as "an entirely deliberate silence serving the national interest".