More than 1 billion liters of gasoline is stored to meet the demand during the annual Nowrouz holiday season that begins next week, the chief executive of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said in a statement.
According to Mansour Riahi, an average of 74.2 million liters per day of gasoline was sold in the past 11 months, up 5.1% compared to the same period in the previous year. But demand is expected to shoot up during the Persian New Year – the longest holiday in Iran, IRNA reported on Saturday.
According to official reports, in the space of 17 days during the last Nowruz, Iranians burned roughly 1.5 billion liters of gasoline, or 85.5 million liters per day, as consumption saw a record high of 106 million liters in one day. For many Iranians, the holidays begin ahead of March 21, the first day of the New Year, and extend for almost two weeks.
According to Tasnim News Agency, the government imported 34 million liters per day of gasoline since February 19 to meet the high and rising demand of the holidaymakers.
The Rouhani administration says Iran will become independent in gasoline production this year upon the launch of major refinery, the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, which is touted as the largest crude processing plant in the Middle East.
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