A member of the Majlis Energy Committee has stated that importing gasoline from Venezuela is not currently on the agenda.
Hassan Shabanpour made the comment in response to some rumors about the low quality of Venezuelan gasoline, adding Iran will import the product from Venezuela if bans on Iran''s energy sector come into effect, IRNA news agency reported.
Gasoline prices in Iran are preserved due to granting state subsidies. Today, the gasoline in Iran is sold via card system, which envisages selling limited volumes of fuel at subsidized prices.
National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company''s (NIORDC) Managing Director Noureddin Shahnazizadeh put the average daily consumption of gasoline in Iran at 21 million liters. If the rationing system was not implemented, the figure would surpass 57 million liters, he added.
As tighter sanctions on Iran''s gasoline purchases move through the U.S. Congress, Iranian officials say they have plenty of alternative suppliers, such as China and Venezuela.
"If any refiners or trading houses for any reason can not supply us gasoline... we will refer to our long list of suppliers and find others - as we have always done - and work with them. There is nothing to stop us from going from one region to another to obtain gasoline," says Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the National Iranian Oil Company's deputy director for investment affairs.
Iran has to import up to 40 percent of the total domestic demand for fuel because of the weak development in the country''s processing industry. From mid December to the end of March, Iran needs to import about two million tons of gasoline and about 810,000 tons of diesel fuel.
In 2008, BP Trading and Reliance ceased gasoline supply to Iran. Today, the major supplier of gasoline to Iran is China, which accounts for one third of Iran''s gasoline imports. In addition, in November last year, the NIORDC and China''s Sinopec signed a memorandum of understanding on Chinese investment in the construction of seven refineries in Iran.