“Over the past seven weeks more than 100,000 tons of gasoline was bought by buyers,” Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying by local news outlets.
The offers were made in the export ring of IRENEX.
Initially aimed at exporting fuel to neighbors, the initiative will be extended to other destinations, Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.
Apart from Afghanistan, fuel is sold to other neighbors including Iraqi Kurdistan and the Republic of Armenia.
The official spoke of plans to increase offers, improve quality and increase product diversity.
He pointed to the enthusiasm of buyers interested in Iranian gasoline and said all the products are bought.
“In some cases buyers compete and quote prices higher than the base price.”
Payments are in foreign currencies and the National Iranian Oil Product Distribution Company is in charge of this section of the deals.
As per rules governing payment in the energy bourse, buyers have two options, namely via the Central Securities Depository of Iran, and direct payment to the seller outside the capital market clearing house.
Payments are settled based on the forex parity rates quoted in the SANA system. The system operates under supervision of the Central Bank of Iran and records average exchange rates from across exchange bureaux).
Oil officials say Iran’s gasoline production has surpassed domestic production and the nation has reached self-reliance in producing this strategic fuel.
Excess Production
Iran is daily producing 15 million liters of gasoline over and above domestic demand. Average daily domestic gasoline consumption is around 92 million liters.
For almost four decades Iran was a fuel importer, especially gasoline, because local refiners could not meet growing demand.
The initiative to export surplus gasoline started for the first time in the history of Iran’s oil industry in July when NIORDC sold 3,000 tons of octane 91 gasoline to Afghans via the energy market.