Iranians used over 2.15 billion liters of gasoline and diesel during the 17-day period marking the Iranian New Year (Norouz) holidays, according to the managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.
Expressing satisfaction with the supply and distribution of fuel nationwide, Seyyed Nasser Sajjadi added that during the period [March 16-April 1], 1.45 billion liters of gasoline were consumed in the country, Shana reported.
Sajjadi added that during the Norouz holidays, Iranian consumption averaged 85.5 million liters of gasoline per day, indicating a rise of 2.8% compared with the corresponding figure of last Iranian year.
Every year during the said period, gasoline consumption hikes, as the number of travels witnesses a significant rise during the Norouz holidays.
Masoud Soltanifar, the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said on Saturday that this Iranian year’s Norouz holidays registered a 10% growth in local travels, which can explain the reason behind the rise in gasoline consumption, according to the Persian news website Jamejamonline.ir.
Abbas Kazemi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, told IRNA on March 7 that most of the country's gasoline demand is currently met domestically.
“To be more precise, of the 70.5 million liters of gasoline consumed daily in the country, 62.5 million liters are produced by domestic refineries,” he said.
Kazemi added that NIORDC imported 8 million liters of gasoline per day in the last Iranian year (ended March 19) to satisfy the ever-increasing need for the strategic commodity.
The official noted that plans have been made not only to become self-reliant in gasoline production, but also to have a say in international markets as an exporter.
Iranian officials have already announced that Iran will become a gasoline exporter when the first phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas goes on stream. Once fully operational, it will have the capacity to produce 36 million liters of Euro 4-compliant gasoline per day.
Sajjadi stressed that on March 30, more than 105.9 million liters of gasoline were used by Iranians, which is the highest record in the country’s gasoline consumption history.
“In the same period, NIORDC distributed close to 700 million liters of diesel across the country, reaching the daily average to 41.2 million liters,” he said.
Sajjadi also noted that during the holidays, Iranian and foreign airplanes were filled with jet fuel for more than 11,780 times.
"Close to 90 million liters of jet fuel were consumed in the 17-day period, which shows an 11.5% increase compared with the similar period of last year," he added.
