Despite the increase in gasoline prices and the removal of subsidized gasoline quota, the price of gasoline in Iran is almost three times lower than the global average, according to the latest statistics.
Regular gasoline is sold at approximately 30 cents per liter in Iran, or more than three times cheaper than the global average of $1.10, according to a published report in the Global Petrol Prices on gasoline prices by the week ending May 25.
According to the report, Norwegians pay the highest for gasoline, at $2.09 per liter, and the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and Hong Kong are among countries offering gasoline at above $1.8 per liter. The fuel also costs approximately 78 cents per liter in the United States.
On the other hand, Venezuelan gasoline, at only two cents per liter, is the cheapest among countries included in the report.
The Middle Eastern neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, all offer gasoline at lower prices compared to Iran.
Turkmenistan’s gasoline is almost on a par with Iran’s at 34 cents per liter, while it costs 73 cents in Pakistan, 75 cents in Azerbaijan, 76 cents in Afghanistan, and 86 cents in Iraq.
Gasoline also costs between 80 cents to $1 dollar per liter in most African countries.
The report suggests that, based on a general trend, industrialized countries have higher prices compared to less advanced countries as well as oil-producing nations, with the US being a notable exception. It also says that gasoline prices are also affected by taxes and subsidies.
The oil ministry announced last week that it will no longer allocate subsidized gasoline to passenger vehicles at a price of 70,000 rials, thus offering regular gasoline at a single price of 10,000 rials (around 30 cents) for car owners nationwide without quota. Unleaded gasoline now costs 12,000 rials per liter.
Record Consumption
Iranians burned a record 110 million liters of gasoline on May 26, a significant 35-million-liter increase compared to a day earlier, the National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company (NIOPDC) said, IRNA reported.
The unprecedented rise in gasoline consumption last Tuesday occurred after the government announced plans to scrap subsidized gasoline by midnight Wednesday.
The NIOPDC spokesman, Davoud Arabali said people rushed to petrol stations to use the remainder of their subsidized gasoline, not knowing that they would have until September 22 to do so.
The previous highest volume of gasoline consumption was recorded on April 1, during the holidays of the new Iranian year, at more than 105 million liters.
