The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company had stored 1.2 billion liters of gasoline last year to meet peak demand in the Nowruz (Persian New Year) holiday season, IRNA reported.
According to Alireza Sadeqabadi, the NIOPDC chief, an average of 90 million liters per day of gasoline was sold in the past 11 months. But demand is expected to soar in the coming days when families, as a tradition, travel across the country to visit friends and relatives during the New Year that beings on March 21.
According to Shana, the Oil Ministry news portal, in the space of 15 days during Nowruz, Iranians are expected to burn 1.7 billion liters of gasoline, or close to 100 million liters per day and consumption is likely to exceed 120 million liters per day on the eve of the annual holiday season (March 19 and 20), Financial Tribune reported.
Referring to the rise in air travel during the coming days, the company said it is supplying airports with all the fuel they need. There are 60 airports in Iran and flights increase exponentially in Nowruz.
NIORDC is producing close to 105 million liters of gasoline per day, of which 79 million liters comply with Euro-5 emission standards.
Shazand Refinery in the central city of Arak, Markazi Province, Persian Gulf Star Refinery and Bandar Abbas Refinery in Hormozgan Province as well as Tabriz Oil Refining Company in East Azarbaijan Province are among the major producers of the fuel.
Daily diesel output and consumption is at 98 ml/d and 85 ml/d respectively.
Compressed natural gas output has reached 6,500 tons a day, of which 1,000 tons are consumed daily, which is equivalent to consuming 21 million liters of gasoline per day.
Despite the 9% increase in gasoline consumption in 2018 compared to the previous year, CNG use hardly rose by 2%, indicating unwillingness to buy the eco-friendly fuel.
Price discrepancy between gasoline and CNG is 60%. Earlier it was reported that CNG prices would not exceed 20% of gasoline.
A liter of gasoline costs 10,000 rials (10 cents) at the pump and one cubic meter of CNG is sold at 6,000 rials (6 cents).