Iran is the largest producer and exporter of gasoline in the Middle East and exports directly to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iraqi Kurdistan, a deputy oil minister said Monday.
“In 2017 our gasoline production was 59 million liters per day. In 2019 it reached 107 million liters,” ISNA quoted Alireza Sadeqabadi as saying.
Iran imported “17 million liters of gasoline per day in 2017, and if timely were not taken the country would need to import 40 million liters per day of gasoline in 2019.”
The Persian Gulf Star Refinery, launched in 2018, was indeed a changemaker in weaning away from importing gasoline from that year and soon after exporting the fuel to neighbors, Sadeqabadi noted.
Referring to the steep increase in foreign exchange rates in 2018, when the dollar bought 190,000 rials, he said: “If Iran had not become self-sufficient in gasoline production it would need to import 40 million liters per day.
Considering 50 cents a liter for the imported fuel then, $20 million a day, $600 million a month and $8 billion a year…would have to be spent only for importing gasoline. This is while that year Iran's total bill for basic goods import was not more than $10 billion.”
Located in the in southern Hormozgan Province, the Persian Gulf Star Refinery produces 48 million liters per day of high-octane gasoline.
Quality Fuel
“One of the reasons that helped us export gasoline to the regional markets is that we offer what our competitors cannot compete with. In quality terms the gasoline sold inside the country and exported to neighbors is among the best in the region,” the official noted.
On the quality of the gasoline, the official said: “According to the statistics of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran, in 2019 sulfur content was below 50 ppm,” which is below acceptable standards.
“Our gasoline is certainly standard in terms of sulfur pollutants, and therefore even on the most polluted days the sulfur oxide pollution index is within the permissible range,” he said.
Moreover, the quantity of aromatic compounds and benzene are 35% and 1% respectively—the same as set by European Union emission standards.
Exports Under Sanctions
Sadeqabadi, who also is managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, recalled that the increase in production, which has led to exports in recent years, happened when the country was under tough US sanctions.
Former US president, Donald Trump, imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on Iran after abandoning the 2015 historic Iran nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.
However, the new President Joe Biden has said he will honor the nuclear agreement and ease the restrictions if Tehran is in compliance. Sadeqabadi expressed the hope that fuel exports would pick up with the removal of sanctions.
Gasoline export is being promoted to help manage the expanding inventory of the fuel, which is a result of the slump in domestic demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the total 115 million liters of gasoline produced in Iran every day, nearly 95 million liters is consumed at home.
