To raise gasoline production capacity to meet the ever-rising demand, some refineries blend harmful chemicals into gasoline, which severely impairs the fuel quality, the head of the Board of Directors at the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union said.
“Of the National Iranian Oil Company’s total gasoline production of 100 million liters per day, 60% are compliant with Euro-4 and 5 emission standards, but the rest [40 million liters/d] is low quality fuel and contains chemicals like benzene, raffinate, naphtha and other aromatic compounds,” ILNA also quoted Hamid Hosseini as saying.
Although adding such chemical products can increase the volume of the fuel, it adversely affects its quality and converts it to Euro-3 fuel that could have a detrimental effect on engine performance, human health and the environment, he added.
Hosseini said burning this kind of low quality gasoline was banned in many countries in the year 2000.
Referring to exports statistics of some local petrochem companies, including Nouri Petrochemical Company in southern Bushehr Province, he noted that the firm sold close to 32 million tons of its benzene, raffinate, naphtha and other aromatic compounds in the international markets in 2021.
“However, this year’s figures have dwindled noticeably, which means the company’s products are being used in domestic refineries to produce gasoline compliant with Euro-3 emission standards,” he said.
“The Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the southern Hormozgan Province, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, is capable of increasing its capacity of Euro-4 gasoline [currently at 45 million liters per day], but due to shortage of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, a compound to increase the octane rating, the firm has to maintain its current level of output.”
Gas Guzzlers
According to Jalil Salari, director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, Iran's annual gasoline demand has increased to a massive 37 billion liters as 1 million-plus gas guzzlers are added to the already saturated domestic market per year.
“The policy to send dilapidated cars to the scrapyard is no longer pursued due to the government’s budget deficit and this has exacerbated the appalling situation in the fuel sector,” he said.
“To meet the ever-growing gasoline demand of fuel-inefficient vehicles, NIOC must build a new refinery every year, which is impossible due to financial constraints.”
The official noted that as long as gasoline demand is not managed efficiently, other strategies on the supply side such as importing fuel, building new refineries or upgrading old facilities will not yield the desired result.
“Supply-oriented policies like increasing the number of crude processing firms require massive investments and cannot address gasoline shortage in the short run,” he said.
All refineries in Iran are producing at full capacity (100 million liters of gasoline/day) and output cannot rise any further over the next five years. Of this volume, 98% are burnt locally and demand is on the rise incessantly.
“NIOC will need to import gasoline from next March, if efficient alternative plans like CNG conversion plans fail to move forward,” he said, adding that there is no quick fix for the looming fuel shortages because building new refineries or manufacturing fuel-efficient cars are either infeasible or take a long time.
Salari said supply-side management approaches, including plans to import the fuel, should be replaced with demand-oriented management plans, such as getting rid of decrepit gas guzzlers that have outlived their usefulness.
Premium Gasoline
NIORDC has resumed the supply of premium gasoline, marketed as 'super', in large cities after a six-month gap.
Salari said Shazand Refinery in the central city of Arak, Markazi Province, and Persian Gulf Star and Bandar Abbas refineries in Hormozgan Province, as well as the Isfahan Oil Refining Company, had stopped producing premium gasoline due to overhaul operations, but now all of them are up and running and the mass production of the high quality commodity has restarted.
The distribution of premium fuel has gradually started in the capital, and other big cities and smaller towns will be supplied with the product in the near future, he added.
The official noted that demand for premium gasoline declined by 80% between March 2021 and March 2022, because of which NIORDC decided to reduce its output and halt supply in July when the refineries started to overhaul their equipment.
Salari noted that due to low demand (around 2 million liters per day), premium gasoline production is not a priority for NIORDC, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company.
NIORDC produces a limited volume of this fuel, as few station owners order it because of its sale at unsubsidized prices [10 cents per liter, twice as much as that of regular gasoline], he added.
If the demand keeps declining, it is likely that the company may stop producing it again.
Premium gasoline has an octane level of 91 as opposed to regular fuel with an octane number of 87.
The higher the octane number, the less pollution it will cause upon use.
