Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran is mulling to reduce compressed natural gas (CNG) price in order to decrease gasoline consumption.
Abbas Kazemi, the Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, said 18.5 million liters of CNG is consumed per day in the country, Iran's Shana news agency reported on Feb. 8.
"If CNG consumption reaches 25 million liters per day, the country will attain self-sufficiency in supplying fuel to the transportation fleet," he added.
"Currently, CNG stations across the country have a capacity to supply 40 million liters of fuel per day," he noted.
Iranian oil minister has reportedly agreed that CNG price to be reduced by 10 percent in the country, after gasoline price fell in the international market.
CNG is currently sold at the price of 4,500 rials per cubic meters.
Earlier, Naser Sajjadi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, said CNG consumption has dropped in the country compared to the past two years due to its price, which is almost equal to gasoline price.
Currently, there are over 3.7 million cars in Iran running on CNG.
Some 90 percent of the major cities' taxis, as well as 60 percent of the vehicles used in public transportation sector, are currently using CNG.
Iran's CNG consumption was around five million liters per year in the Iranian calendar year of 1381 (ended March 20, 2003), but the figure reached seven billion in the calendar year of 1391 (ended March 20, 2013).