The quality of gasoline distributed nationwide is on par with those of Europe, said the deputy head of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.
"Currently, about 19-20 million liters of gasoline and nearly 24 million liters of diesel are produced and supplied by local refineries daily in compliance with Euro-4 standards," Shahrokh Khosravani was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
This flies in the face of the recent statement made by CEO of Tehran Air Quality Control Company, Vahid Hosseini, that tests on Euro-4 gasoline distributed in Tehran have shown significantly high amounts of sulfur.
"The latest round of quality control tests on diesel and gasoline distributed in the Iranian capital during March 21-September 22 shows the amount of sulfur found in the Euro-4 gasoline to be twice the acceptable limit of 50 ppm," he said.
According to Khosravani, a major share of the country's Euro-4 gasoline is supplied by Imam Khomeini Oil Refining Company of Shazand and Arak in Markazi Province, with a production capacity of 16 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline per day.
The refinery's capacity shrank after a basic overhaul project began in early summer, forcing the company to meet a part of the demand through other refineries or storage units, which Khosravani believes explains the rather high amount of sulfur in the Euro-4 gasoline supplied during the period.
Ruling out any quality differences, he said gas stations in megacities such as Tehran, Karaj, Arak, Tabriz, Isfahan and Mashhad abide by global standards, including those set by the European Union. He further said the sulfur level in the marketed fuel does not exceed 50 ppm while the level of benzene, aromatics and olefin fall below 1%, 35% and 18% respectfully.
"The only difference is that the octane number is 87, 91 and 95 in the Iranian Euro-4 grade gasoline while it stands at 96 or 98 in parts of Europe," he clarified. "Euro-4 and premium gas have octane ratings of 91 and 95 respectfully."
Shana had earlier reported that the Oil Ministry plans to distribute 23 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline daily in the current Iranian year (to end March 19, 2016).
