“In the first quarter of the current fiscal, Iran imported 9 million liters per day of gasoline, which has now reached 5.7 ml/d and we will continue efforts to reduce the volume,” Mohammad Reza Mousavikhah, the head of NIOPDC, told Shana on Wednesday.
In the previous fiscal, Iranians used almost 80 million liters of gasoline daily and the government imported 12 ml/d to meet the demand.
President Hassan Rouhani officially inaugurated Phase 2 of PGSR, which is hailed as the Middle East’s largest processing facility for gas condensate, late last month. The completion of the second phase raised its capacity by 120,000 barrels per day to 240,000 bpd, according to Financial Tribune.
Mousavikhah noted that the state-owned company has no problem in producing and distributing premium gasoline, sold as "super", adding that while its octane number stands at 95, Euro-5 gasoline has an octane number of 91. He said the country produces about 3.5 ml/d of super gasoline.
The boost in output can effectively cut gasoline imports and turn Iran into an exporter of the product.
Iran’s PGSR converts light crude, known as condensate, into gasoline and naphtha. The first phase was inaugurated by Rouhani in March 2017. The mega project is slated to come on stream by the end of the current fiscal.