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Iran halts distributing petrochemical gasoline

Oil&Gas Materials 23 May 2014 17:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 23

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran has stopped distributing gasoline produced by its petrochemical complexes, the country's oil minister Bizan Namdar Zanganeh said.

Zanganeh also confirmed that the "petrochemical gasoline's quality is bad and inappropriate," Iran's ISNA news agency reported on May 23.

He also went on to say that the gasoline produced by the country's petrochemical complexes earlier was being distributed all around the country.

The minister did not clarify the reports which claim the gasoline produced at petrochemical refineries causes cancer.

Earlier this month Iran's department of the environment published a report confirming petrochemical gasoline lead to cancer.

"To combat sanctions and provide for the country's gasoline needs, the former administration launched a rushed effort to produce petrochemical gasoline without a long-term plan," according to the statement.

The department stressed that it is making every effort to eliminate petrochemical gasoline from the market.

In recent years, three petrochemical complexes were producing gasoline to meet the domestic need under the international sanctions imposed on the country's oil sector, the Mehr news agency quoted managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company Abbas Kazemi as saying on May 17.

Kazemi said on May 5 that one of the reasons behind increasing cancer cases in Tehran and other large cities is that domestic-produced gasoline in Iran's petrochemical sites cause cancer.

Iran earlier announced production of gasoline in domestic refineries should be halted due to high pollution, and 10 million liters of gasoline should be imported instead.

According to the oil ministry, Iran's petrochemical complexes will not produce gasoline and octane booster anymore. The country's gasoline consumption is around 65 million liters per day.

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