TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran May Turn Into a Fuel-Importing Country in 10 Years. Secretary-General of Iran’s Oil Refinery Industry Contractors Association warned overconsumption of gasoline in the country and said if it is not controlled, in ten years Iran will become a fuel-importing country.
Speaking at a press conference, Nasser Ashouri said that Iran became self-sufficient in petrol and diesel fuel supplies in 2018 and continues to do so.
Ashouri said that refineries which are responsible for supplying domestic fuel needs and the feed for lower industries have been working in three shifts to keep pace with the increasing demands.
However, he added that they have given proposals to the new administration in Iran to set up mechanisms to manage consumption so that there wouldn’t be need to import fuel in the future. He reiterated that if the fuel consumption is not managed, then Iran will become an importer of gasoline in 10 years.
Iran’s refinery industry produces over 100 million liters of petrol in an annual basis, but the non-optimized consumption pattern leads to consumption of over 90 million liters in the country, according to Ashouri.
He also noted that Iran’s domestic capacity in this area is in a position that continuance of U.S. sanctions would have no impact on it, but the need for future planning is necessary for the years to come.
Touching upon the construction of refinery to meet the national demands, he said if the country pursues construction of refinery, it needs enough forex and rial and it takes six years for its construction, adding that so it is better for the country to reform and manage the fuel consumption of vehicles and to boost CNG fuel in the cars.
Ashouri also pointed to the Persian Gulf Star project and said some reforms have been done in the phase 4 of this refinery and the production capacity has increased from 160,000 barrels to 400,000 barrels and it is supposed the capacity to reach 440,000 barrels. He added that construction of a 120,000-barrel unit is in the pipeline and it is currently in the designing stage.
On exporting gasoline and oil products, he said that the association is just a producer and the government decides exports based on its policy but the association produces 40 refining products for the domestic companies both as feedstock and for exports which are offered through the mercantile exchange.
He admitted that refineries in the country are old and their maintenance costs very much, adding that but if these refineries were not, provision of feedstock would have been impossible due to the sanctions.
Ashouri went on to say that refineries are national asses and they should be upgraded and their problems should be resolved because refineries should live and worth with the most capacity.
