An Iranian oil worker walks at Tehran’s oil refinery south of the capital in Iran.

A gas leak caused an explosion at a refinery in Lavan Island in southern Iran on Wednesday, the Fars news agency reported, a day before the launch of six new projects there.

The incident caused no casualties, the agency said, but the launch of the projects had been cancelled after the explosion.

Lavan Island has one of the major export terminals for crude oil in Iran.

“The incident happened due to a gas leak in a new petroleum refining unit that was supposed to be launched tomorrow,” Iran’s deputy oil minister, Abbas Kazemi was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA on Wednesday.

The oil ministry’s news agency, SHANA, reported that compressor failure at the refinery was to blame for the explosion, and that it would be fixed in next 10 days.

The agency said the explosion had only affected a small part of the refinery and the rest was operational.

Kazemi was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying on Saturday that Lavan Refinery was being upgraded in order to reach a total gasoline output of 2 to 2.2 million litres which meet meets euro-4 standard obligations.

The upgrade of the Lavan refinery was supposed to finish in 2011 but projects were delayed due to international sanctions imposed on Iran because of its nuclear programme.

Iran is on track to raise oil production by 500,000 barrels per day after the lifting of sanctions this month and has already sold 6 supertankers with additional crude to buyers in Europe and Asia.

Tehran has said it would boost output by another 500,000 bpd within a year, ultimately reaching pre-sanction production levels of 4 million bpd seen in 2010-2011.

Related articles across the web

• 'Elegy' adds Russian award to its asset
• More Iranians Die From Swine Flu
• Nominee registration for Assembly of Experts launches in Iran
• Swine flu toll up by 15, reached 57 in Iran: official
• Rohani: Nuclear deal to be implemented within weeks
• Iran to Continue Developing Ballistic Missile Industry Despite UN Resolution Restrictions
• Iraqi Army and allies take strategic positions in Anbar Province, prepare to retake the city of Ramadi
• Iran to Continue Developing Ballistic Missile Industry Despite UN Resolution Restrictions
• Courant Times - Tuesday 15 December 2015
• Aromatics Detection Made Easy by New Sensor Produced by Using MOFs