Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 21
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran imported 17.1 million liters of gasoline per day in the current Iranian fiscal month, which started on August 23.
While the Petroleum Ministry was prescribed to import 10 million liters of gasoline per day, 17.1 million liters of gasoline was imported on average per day, Iran 's Tasnim news agency reported Sept. 21.
Statistics of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company show that imports of gasoline in the current Iranian fiscal month rose by 240 percent compared to the same month last year.
The statistics indicate that some 80 million liters of gasoline was imported on Sept. 16.
That was while the country's gasoline production hit 79 million liters per day during the first 179 days of the current Iranian fiscal year (started on March 21), compared to 64 million liters per day in the same period last year.
Gasoline consumption amounted to 71.4 million liters on average per day in spring, compared to 69.4 million liters in spring 2014.
Iran used to import 40 percent of its needed gasoline in 2009. But the international sanctions forced it to produce gasoline domestically by adding lead or some poisonous chemical catalysts to the product.
The administration of President Hassan Rouhani ordered to stop the distribution of substandard gasoline.
Edited by CN