Phase 3 of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Bandar Abbas in southern Hormozgan Province is fully operational and its production will stabilize by March, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Monday.
"Overall gasoline production will exceed 100 million liters per day by the end of the current fiscal as PGSR output is expected to stabilize at 36 million liters per day," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Zanganeh put daily gasoline output at 90 million liters, which he said is 45% higher than last year.
"Gasoline production and inventories are at satisfactory levels," he said, adding that there will be no need to import the fuel come next March “albeit if consumption is at close to present levels and there is no sharp spike.”
The minister said when substandard cars are manufactured fuel consumption will naturally be high and keep rising “despite the government’s best efforts to curb consumption.”
Gasoline usage has reached an unprecedented average of 100 million liters per day due largely to the gas-guzzlers produced by local car companies, the systemic increase in the number of private cars, worsening traffic in almost all major cities and limited expansion in public transport.
"The price of energy carriers will not change next year," the minister said, admitting that senior officials had been unable to forge a consensus on rationing gasoline.
Regarding PGSR's fourth phase, he said his ministry has assigned the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company to develop the final phase.
The prospective phase is planned to produce 12 million liters of Euro-5 gasoline and diesel.
PGSR is being built in four phases and each is designed to produce 12 ml/d of high-octane gasoline and diesel as part of government efforts to wean Iran away from fuel imports.
Putting the refinery's daily output at around 36 million liters, Zanganeh said the first two phases are up and running and the third has recently come on stream, but its output is not yet stable.
Each PGSR phase uses about 120,000 barrels of gas condensate a day supplied from the giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf. With the fourth phase the refinery will consume 500,000 barrels a day.
South Par, the world's largest gas field in Iranian territory (shared with Qatar), is being developed in 24 phases. Except for Phase 11, phases 13, 22, 23 and 24 will become operational by the end of 2019.
The field's gas condensate output exceeds 800,000 bpd, and is projected to reach 1 million barrels when all phases are complete.
