Tehran, Iran, May 6
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iran's Persian Gulf Start refinery's gasoline production unit will come on stream next Iranian calendar year (to start on March 21, 2015).
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that once the facility comes on stream, the country no longer needs to import gasoline, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on May 6.
He went on to note that the country has no plan to expel Chinese firms from Iran's oil and gas projects.
Iran has already expelled China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) from South Azadegan oilfield's development project due to long delays in carrying out the project.
Iran's gasoline reserves currently stand at 1.9 billion liters.
Managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), Abbas Kazemi, added that the figure shows 13 percent increase compared to last months of previous year (which ended on March 20).
Referring to the increasing trend of gasoline consumption in the first half the year, Kazemi said that there is no need to worry.
"Once the gasoline production units of Isfahan and Bandar Abbas refineries, as well as the first phase of Persian Gulf Star gas condensates refinery, come on stream, Iran no longer require gasoline imports," he explained.
Kazemi, said on April 13 that Iran plans to daily import 10 million liters of gasoline to compensate for stopping production of gasoline in petrochemical complexes.
"Iranian government has ordered the petrochemical complexes to stop producing gasoline," he said, adding that the country's gasoline imports were around 3.5 million liters per day in the previous calendar year, which ended on March 20.
The decision was made because the gasoline produced in petrochemical complexes has been reported as polluting.
According to the managing director of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC), Mostafa Kashkouli, some 24.5 billion liters of gasoline was consumed in Iran in the previous year, which is 1.8 billion liters more than its preceding year.
The country's average gasoline consumption stood at 67 million liters in the previous year.
