Courtesy of Reuters, news that Iran, Ecuador, and Venezuela have agreed to build a refinery and a petrochemical unit in Ecuador.  As the article reports:

“An agreement was signed between Iran and Ecuador on cooperation in the oil industry and showed the will of the two countries’ presidents to increase cooperation in economy and politics,” Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said.

…The deal covered cooperation between Iran, Ecuador and Venezuela on building a refinery and a petrochemical unit in Ecuador. It also covered training of Ecuador’s oil industry employees by Iranian experts and cooperation in maintenance on Ecuadorean oil facilities.

Iran is the world’s fourth largest oil producer, but its own refineries cannot fully cover the country’s gasoline needs. It also has huge gas reserves but has been slow to develop exports….”