Tehran, Iran, April 23
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) called on the petrochemical complexes in the country to stop producing gasoline.
NIORDC in a statement thanked the petrochemical companies that helped the country in a difficult situation.
"Considering the quality of produced gasoline, and the fact that the price of the final product in the petrochemical complexes is more than the gasoline produced in other units, it's better that the petrochemical complexes stop producing it," he said.
Managing director of NIORDC, Abbas Kazemi, said on April 13 that Iran plans to daily import 10 million liters of gasoline to compensate for stopping production of gasoline in petrochemical complexes.
"Iranian government has ordered the petrochemical complexes to stop producing gasoline," he said, adding that the country's gasoline imports were around 3.5 million liters per day in the previous calendar year, which ended on March 20.
Kazemi went on to note that Iran's consumed gasoline was around 60 million liters per day in the last months of the previous year.
"We will do our best to maintain the figure," he said.
According to the oil ministry, Iran's petrochemical complexes will not produce gasoline and octane booster anymore.
The decision was made because the gasoline produced in petrochemical complexes has been reported to be polluted.
Iranian petrochemical complexes started producing gasoline once the United States put gasoline trades with Iran under sanctions.
Head of Iran's Department of Environment, Massoumeh Ebtekar, said on February 9 that the gasoline produced in petrochemical complexes is highly polluting.
Last year, according to PSI (Pollutant Standards Index), Iran had 147 days during which air quality was substandard. Two years ago, this number stood at 217 days.
The air over Iran's capital, Tehran, is among the most polluted in the world. Experts say many Iranians suffer serious health problems as a result.