Euro-4 diesel sales started in nine more provinces and nationwide supply will commence in March, a deputy at the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said.
"As of now the Bandar Abbas, Tabriz, Arak, Tehran and Lavan refineries produce 42 million liters of Euro-4 diesel per day," Mohammad Reza Mousavikhah was quoted as saying by Shana on Sunday.
Besides Tehran, Markazi, Isfahan and Alborz, the fuel is sold in nine other provinces namely Ardabil, East and West Azarbaijan, Zanjan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kerman, Yazd and Fars.
"The fuel that is in compliance with latest European emission standards has sulfur content of 50 parts per million is being sold in 230 filling stations outside cities as well as near roadways and highways connecting metropolises and urban areas."
Megacities are introducing a variety of schemes to improve urban air quality by limiting the number or types of automobiles that can enter downtown zones. Diesel cars are among the worst sources of urban air pollution and are not allowed to operate within the cities in Iran.
Denying speculations about high proportion of sulfur in the fuel sold in Tehran, which was made known by officials with Tehran Air Quality Control Company, a subsidiary of Tehran Municipality, the NIORDC official said prior to the distribution of Euro-4 diesel, sulfur content in the fuel was 350 ppm.
Mousavikhah said concerted efforts have been made to facilitate the process of monitoring the quality of fuel on a regular basis.
Moreover, Bandar Abbas and Tabriz complexes have completed 15 projects over five years to lower the environmental footprint of diesel, among which was the implementation of light naphtha treatment, installing isomerization equipment and a sulfur granulation unit.
Euro-5 Gasoline
According to Ali Dadvar, managing director of Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province, the plant's Euro-5 gasoline output will soon increase by 10 million liters, reaching 40 million liters per day.
Based on European emission standards, sulphur, aromatic and octane content in Euro-5 fuel must be 10 ppm, 30% and 95 respectively.
Referring to phase three of the refinery, he said the isomeration units are being filled with domestically-produced catalysts to raise output, yet development of the plant needs time as production units are interdependent and cannot go online altogether.
PGSR converts light crude, known as condensate, into gasoline and naphtha.
Regarding catalysts such as aluminum, platinum, processed clay, and acids, he said unlike refineries such as the huge Abadan Oil Refinery in Khuzestan Province, which import the catalysts from India and China, PGSR catalysts are manufactured inside the country.
