Gasoline Consumption Hits New Fiscal High

Iranians set a record for gasoline consumption on September 7, burning 104.7 million liters, the highest level in the current fiscal year that started on March 21, the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said.

“Gasoline consumption in the current fiscal reached an average of 81.2 ml/d, indicating an 8.4% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year (74.9 ml/d),” Mohammad Reza Mousavikhah, a deputy at NIOPDC, was quoted as saying by ISNA on Tuesday.

Mousavikhah noted that consumption has increased by 9.6% on average since August 23 compared with the same period of the previous fiscal.

On April 1, over 102 million liters of the fuel were consumed, the second-highest amount of consumption in a single day this year. Iran’s all-time daily consumption record, 105.9 million liters, was set on March 31, 2016, during the annual Norouz (New Year) holidays.

The official noted that it had been predicted that consumption would register a 5.5% growth this year.

“But consumption of gasoline went higher due to reasons such as post-sanctions economic prosperity and increasing rate of automobile production and import,” he said.

Mousavikhah asserted that gasoline inventories and domestic production are at such levels that there is no ground for concern over a possible shortage of the fuel in the near future.

Iran has 37 main gasoline distribution centers with various storage capacities. North Khorasan, Tehran, Mazandaran and Gilan are among provinces that have the biggest gasoline inventories, as they normally host the largest number of travelers throughout the year. Mousavikhah also said Iran has the capacity to supply over 40 million cubic meters of compressed natural gas per day, nearly half of which is idle.

According to the official, jet fuel consumption has averaged 5.6 ml/d in the past three weeks from an average of 5.2 million liters daily so far in the present fiscal.