Gasoline consumption in Iran increased by over 5% during the Norouz (Iranian New Year) holiday season (March 21-April 2) compared with the same period of last year.
According to the figures announced by the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, the average daily consumption of gasoline in the first 13 days of the current year was 114 million liters, 5.6% more than the volume used in the New Year holidays last year, the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana reported.
On the last day of last year (March 20, 2023), motorists burned more than 144 million liters of gasoline across Iran, registering a new daily record in the country’s fuel consumption.
In the last 10 days of last year (March 11-20), an average of 122 million liters of gasoline were consumed per day, indicating a 14% increase compared with the same period of the previous year when 107 million liters of gasoline were used.
One of the most important reasons regarding the rise in fuel consumption is the jump in the number of trips made by people. Traditionally, Iranians travel and visit each other during the Norouz holidays.
Currently, Iran produces 115 million liters of gasoline per day, with the major portion being produced at the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Hormozgan Province.
Increasing Output
Alireza Jafarpour, managing director of the refinery, said it produces about 42 million liters of gasoline per day, comprising around 37% of the country’s total output.
“With the launch of a new unit later this year, 10 million liters per day of gasoline will be added to the daily production of the fuel in the country,” he added.
Despite the imposition of US sanctions, the country has managed to develop its refining industry by relying on the technical capacities of domestic knowledge-based companies.
“About 90% of the equipment in the PGSR were manufactured by the local producers and the refinery has been constructed by the Iranian experts and engineers,” Jafarpour added.
One of the main goals of the refinery is to produce eco-friendly products. The amount of sulfur in the gasoline produced by the refinery is about 20 times lower than the amount permitted by Euro-5 standards, which has a significant effect on reducing emissions.
The refinery also seeks to complete the value chain of products in the near future, as it will be transformed into a large and modern petro-refinery that will create more added value.
The development project to implement the fourth phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery is expected to become operational in 2024.
Each PGSR phase uses about 120,000 barrels per day of gas condensate supplied by the giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.
With the launch of the fourth phase, the refinery will consume about 500,000 bpd of the fuel, as a strategic move to use the field's gas domestically instead of exporting it.
Gas condensates from SP accounts for 40% of total gasoline output in Iran. South Pars Gas Complex produces 650,000 barrels of gas condensates per day.
Gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids present as gaseous components in unprocessed natural gas.
As Iran increases gas output (1 billion cubic meters per day), gas condensate production is getting a boost to raise gasoline output.
Environmental Preservation
Under pressure from Iran’s Department of Environment, shareholders and oil companies, including PGSR, are investing in environmental preservation plans to “stay green”.
The company has been introduced by the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company as a top refiner that has made increasing efforts to help preserve the environment, including expansion of green spaces, using wastewater, curbing pollutants and improving energy management.
According to environmental laws, industries and production units should allocate 10% of their total area to green space. PGSR has 40 hectares of green space.
The plant has increased output of its wastewater treatment unit to 275,000 liters per hour to use reclaimed wastewater instead of the depleting groundwater resources.
PGSR is equipped with two sulfur recovery units, two purification units with sour water strippers (SWS) and two gas purification units with amine treating units.
SWS is one of the first stages in the wastewater treatment process in refineries. Water streams from throughout a refinery are typically sent to a stripper, which is designed to remove both H2S and ammonia from the water.
To reduce air pollutants, the huge refinery uses natural gas instead of liquid fuels like mazut as feedstock in furnaces and boilers. It has also installed oxygen analyzers on furnaces and boilers to control the combustion process and reduce gas consumption.
