Iran imports around 6.4 million liters of gasoline a day to meet domestic demand, but plans to embark on gasoline export once the first phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Bandar Abbas goes on stream, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said.
Seyyed Nasser Sajjadi added that the refinery is slated for launch by the end of the current Iranian year (March 19, 2016) or sometimes in spring next year, IRNA reported.
Officials put the average gasoline consumption during March-August at 72 million liters per day, of which only 6.4 million liters per day were imported.
This is while Iranians used around 530 million liters of gasoline in the week ending September 4, with Thursday recording the biggest daily consumption at 86 million liters.
The Persian Gulf Star Refinery is expected to produce 360,000 barrels of gas condensate, 27 million liters of regular gasoline, 9 million liters of super gasoline, 14 million liters of diesel and 370,000 liters of jet fuel per day.
Investment in the refinery, the construction of which has been delayed, exceeded $3 billion.
The refinery is expected to earn $10 billion in annual revenues had it become operational when oil prices were around $100 per barrel. But it is now expected to engender $6-7 billion in revenues per year.
