International Energy Agency data show Iran paid $45 billion in energy subsidies in 2017, a member of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce said.
"The data indicate a 55% growth in energy subsidies compared to 2016," Reza Padidar was quoted as saying.
Giving a breakdown, he added that of the total amount, $16.5 billion was allocated to oil and its byproducts, namely gasoline and diesel, $12.3 billion went to the long-struggling electricity sector and the remaining to natural gas.
The government’s ability to increase subsidies by 55% is attributed to higher international oil prices. A barrel of crude sold for $70 on average during the past six months.
"Iran's oil exports averaged 2.8 million barrels per day during the first six months of the current fiscal that started in March," he said, adding that despite the US sanctions, which were fully enforced on Monday, crude exports continue.
Padidar who also is chairman of the board of directors of the Iranian Petroleum Industries Equipment Manufacturers Association, recalled that the Trump administration has resorted to variety of tactics “to keep global prices below $70 and granting sanctions waivers to Iran's traditional oil customers is a part of the plan.”
Iran holds the world’s fourth-largest proven crude oil reserves and the world’s second-largest natural gas resources. Despite its vast reserves, Iran’s oil production has undergone years of underinvestment because lawmakers and successive governments have been unable to forge a consensus over a roadmap to acquire much-needed advanced technology and foreign investment.
The added and more troubling problem is that energy consumption and wastage in the country has reached unacceptable and unsustainable levels.
Massive Consumption
According to Hamid Reza Salehi, the deputy head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture's Export Commission, energy consumption in Iran is 4 times over and above the global average.
The rate of domestic energy consumption is 14 times that of Japan and "this does not mean that Iranians have more welfare than the Japanese," he cautioned.
Another comparison between Iran’s energy consumption and global figures indicates that the world's energy consumption increased by 27% in the past decade, while Iran's energy use rose by 80% although its GDP has not witnessed a substantial growth, the ICCIMA official noted.
“Despite the rise in power consumption in developed nations, they as a matter of policy have upheld the crucial need to consume less and continue to promote clean energy.”
Commenting on Iran's growing population, Salehi said, "If effective measures are not taken to restrain and reverse the existing pattern of overuse and waste, we will face formidable challenges when it comes to generating energy" for the future generations.
