Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 5
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The issue of launching gasoline retail stations by Total and Shell still remains unclear.
On Oct. 2 head of Iran 's filling stations union Bijan Haj Mohammadreza said the licenses had been issued recently for Shell and Total energy companies to establish 200 filling stations in Iran. However the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) later rejected the issue.
Trying to make the issue clear Trend asked Total and Shell about that. Quentin Vivant, a spokesperson with Total told Trend Oct. 5 that the company does not comment on these reports. However he added that the company has a long history with Iran, willing to go back when the sanctions are lifted and if the conditions are interesting.
Total is also amongst the French firms that took part in the Medef (the business organization) delegation that visited Tehran in September, the spokesman said, adding some meetings took place with Iranian authorities during the trip.
Shell, which went also to Tehran with a British government mission to open the UK embassy there in August, also has refused to make comment on the issue. Nureddin Wefati, head of Media Relations for the Middle East and North Africa of the company told Trend that Shell does not release any comment on the issue.
Iran and the P5+1 (US, Russia , China , France , UK , and Germany ) announced a final accord last July, after several months of talks, curbing Iran 's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of most international sanctions. Following the deal Iran 's former trade partners have started dispatching delegations to Tehran to study cooperation in the post-sanctions period.
There are currently more than 3,200 gas stations in Iran, offering services to motorists in the country of 80 million people, according to figures provided by the local media.
More than 15 million vehicles ply the country's roads and according to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iranians burn nearly 70 million liters of gasoline a day, of which five million liters is imported.
Fuel prices in Iran are among the cheapest in the world even after the government cancelled offering oil products at subsidized prices in May.
Edited by CN
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