The number of compressed natural gas stations has reached 2,436, the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company's director for CNG stations said.
“Plans call for building 150 new CNG stations by March 2019 with the help from the private sector, bringing the total number of such stations to 2,586”, Mohammad Qasemi was quoted as saying by Shana.
To create incentives for the private sector to play an active role in CNG ventures, the privately-owned station can charge customers 6,000 rials (6 cents) per cubic meter. State-owned stations charge customers 4,000 rials (4 cents) for the same amount of fuel, he said.
“Average daily domestic demand for CNG is close to 21 million cubic meters…We can supply 30 mcm/d on demand.”
CNG accounts for 13% of the total fuel consumption and is projected to reach 35% by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2017-22).
According to Qasemi, in the past 12 years domestic CNG consumption has increased 53-fold.
The government is moving ahead with plans to promote CNG as a clean alternative to other eco-unfriendly fossil fuels. Natural gas vehicles produce at least 20% less harmful emissions than gasoline-powered cars.
"Iran is one of the leading countries promoting CNG stations," Qasemi said, noting that more than $2.4 billion has been invested to expand CNG use in the last 10 years and 22,000 people work for this industry.
Underscoring role of gas in curtailing gasoline consumption, Nasser Sajjadi, former managing director of the NIORDC, said in July, "Were it not for the growth of the CNG industry, now we would be consuming an estimated 150 million liters of gasoline per day. Moreover, CNG has helped us reduce gasoline import."
Gasoline consumption has been put at a massive 105 million liters per day.
