TEHRAN (Iran News) – Gasoline consumption in Iran has decreased by eight percent in the second month of the current Iranian calendar year (April 21-May 21) compared to the figure for the previous month.
The consumption of the said fuel in the mentioned month, however, increased by five percent compared to the same month last year.
Gasoline consumption stood at 79.6 million liters per day in the first month of the current year (March 21-April 20) which coincides with the New Year holidays, IRNA reported.
The average consumption in the previous year’s second month was reported to be 70 million liters per day.
Gasoline consumption in Iran has fluctuated over the past 15 months since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.
In the early days of the pandemic, concerns over the virus minimized the travels across the country and led to a record decrease in consumption in the last Iranian calendar year’s first month (March 20-April 20, 2020).
On some days in April 2020, gasoline consumption even fell to 40 million liters and the average daily consumption did not exceed 50 million liters that month.
In general, gasoline consumption in the country declined 20 percent in the past Iranian calendar year, as compared to its preceding year due to rationing this fuel and also the coronavirus pandemic.
Iran, which was an importer of gasoline for decades, exported over $1.4 billion worth of the fuel in the first seven months of the past Iranian calendar year (March 20-October 21, 2020).
The significant increase in the country’s gasoline production and exports comes despite the fact that nearly two years ago Iran was shipping in over 4.5 million liters per day of the strategic product.
The Islamic Republic became a net gasoline exporter in February 2019, after the inauguration of the third phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGS) project which added 120,000 barrels to the country’s daily gasoline production.
The increase in the exports of the mentioned commodity is a result of the increase in the country’s refining capacity and the decline in domestic consumption following the implementation of a rationing program.
