Iran is planning to build an oil refinery in Syria, the head of downstream technologies at Iran's Research Institute of the Petroleum Industry said on September 26, according to Fars news agency.

The refinery, to be built near the city of Homs, will have an output capacity of 140,000 b/d, Akbar Zamanian reportedly said, adding: "This refinery will be built by a consortium with Iran, Venezuela and Syria’s participation."

The Islamic Republic has been increasingly capitalising on the economic dividends of the gratitude felt by the Damascus regime for Iran’s military backing in the Syria conflict.

Zamanian was also quoted as saying that Iran intended to rebuild two existing refineries in Syria, but he noted that any refinery construction or reconstruction would not be possible until the conflict was definitively at an end.

In mid-September, Iran signed deals with Damascus to repair Syria's power grid and build and rehabilitate power stations.

In January, entities close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards inked major telecommunications and mining deals with Damascus.

In a separate development, Fars reported that Iran is looking to substantially up its exports of crude oil to global markets beyond the current volume of 2.2mn b/d. The news agency cited an Iranian energy official as saying the country hoped to gain from the current rising price of crude on world markets.

Iran is not limited by the current Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production cap, as it is playing catch-up on lost oil sales caused by the years of international sanctions.

"This [oil export increase] will be carried out as a new type of Iranian crude is presented to clients," director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Saeed Khoshrou reportedly said, addressing a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Singapore on September 25.

He reiterated that Iran still had huge potential to further increase its oil production, especially given the fact that a majority of its onshore reserves still remained untapped. Around 70% of Iran’s oil reserves are located in offshore reservoirs in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has previously said it could push the current production rate up to 3mn b/d within the next 12 months with increased output being facilitated at older wells.