Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 31
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Over 8 billion liters of gasoline were consumed in Iran over 120 days from Sept. 23, 2014 to Jan. 20, 2015.
The volume of consumed gasoline rose by 156 million liters compared to the same period of the previous year, Iran's Shana news agency reported on Jan. 31.
Some 70.2 million liters of gasoline were consumed in the month of Mehr (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) and 66.3 million liters of gasoline were consumed in the month of Day (Dec. 22, 2014-Jan. 20, 2015).
Iran used to import 40 percent of its required gasoline in 2009. But international sanctions forced it to produce gasoline domestically by adding lead or some poisonous chemical catalysts such as MTBE to the product. MTBE is a highly poisonous substance that causes cancer. Its use is banned worldwide for gasoline production.
The administration of President Hassan Rouhani ordered stopping the distribution of substandard gasoline.