Iran Starts Gasoline Export

EghtesadOnline: The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company has started exporting gasoline to international markets, CEO of the company said.

News ID: ۷۴۶۷۱۳

18 February 2019

Alireza Sadeqabadi made the statement in a press conference in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, on Sunday.

"Not only is the fuel exported, namely to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf littoral states and the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, but is also offered on the energy stock exchange," Sadeqabadi was quoted as saying by ISNA, adding that no gasoline was imported since September.

Other types of fuels including kerosene, diesel and jet fuel are also exported, especially to the neighboring Arab states, the head of NIORDC said without providing details, Financial Tribune reported.

According to Shana, Oil Ministry's news portal, between1974 and 1976 there was no need for imports. But with the rapid increase in the number of cars, gasoline import became inevitable climbing to 4 million and 17 million liters a day in 1987 and 2008 respectively.

From 2008 onwards there was a downward trend and in 2016 daily imports were in the range of 10 million liters and since 2017 when the Persian Gulf Star Refinery's first phase went on stream in Hormozgan Province imports almost halved to stand between 5 ml/d and 3 ml/d.

Daily gasoline production has exceeded 95 million liter, of which 76 million complies with Euro-4 and 5 emission standards.

According to the NIORDC boss, an average of 90 million liters of gasoline is burnt in the country every day that is 1.12 liters per capita. The figure is 1.08, 0.91, 0.42, 0.22 and 0.05 in Malaysia, Russia, Brazil, China and India respectively.

"Should the gap between production and consumption widen further, the disparity will reach 200 million liters by 2033," he said.

Bridging the huge gap would compel the government to spend $37 billion per annum only to import gasoline and keep the engines running. This is while constructing a refinery costs less than $57 billion.”

Asked about diesel output, he said 100 million liters of the fuel is produced on a daily basis, of which 44 million liters comply with Euro-4 emission standards.

Diesel-powered cars are banned in Iran and the fuel is primarily used in heavy-duty vehicles, power plants and industries.

European emission standards mark the acceptable levels for exhaust emissions for cars sold in the EU.

Regarding the NIORDC budget in 2017-18, he said the company has spent $31 billion to process 2.1 million liters of crude every day.

An estimated 240,000 bpd of gas condensates are refined in PGSR.