Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 25
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
The gasoline produced in the petrochemical complexes is causing pollution, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Feb. 25, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.
"Currently such gasoline is not being distributed in the capital of Tehran since the city's air is already polluted," he explained.
He went on to note that the oil ministry is seeking to import gasoline.
"The oil ministry plans to construct 200 to 250 small gas stations with only one pump in Tehran," he said.
Head of Iran's Department of Environment, Massoumeh Ebtekar, said on February 9 that the department will no longer allow the distribution of gasoline produced in petrochemical complexes, Iran's Young Journalists Club reported.
"The gasoline produced in petrochemical complexes is highly polluted," she said.
"The oil ministry has accepted our argument and will not distribute the specific type of gasoline," she added.
"Iran's Department of Environment has the legal authority," Ebtekar said, adding that the government and Majlis (parliament) fully support the department.
Iran's deputy oil minister, Abbas Kazemi, said on Feb 21 that Iran currently distributes 7.5-8 million litres of gasoline conforming to Euro-4 standard in the capital Tehran and nearby city of Karaj, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.
"As of next year (March 21), all gas stations in Tehran will provide Euro-4 standard gasoline," Kazemi said.
The managing director of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC), Mostafa Kashkouli , said on January 10 that the country's gasoline consumption had faced a 7.6-per cent increase compared to the previous year, the ISNA News Agency reported.
"Iran's average gasoline consumption currently stands at 68 million litres per day," he said.
"We are currently storing enough to meet the country's demands in the New Year holidays and next summer," Kashkouli explained.
Over 6.534 billion litres of gasoline was consumed in Iran during the summer this year.
The figure is 500 million litres more than the same period last year, the IRNA News Agency reported.
Iran's average gasoline consumption stood at 68.5 and 68.2 million litres per day in the first and second months of summer, respectively.
The figure reached 74 million litres in the third month of summer.
Iran's average gasoline consumption stood at around 71.6 million litres per day in the previous Iranian calendar year, the ISNA News Agency reported.
It is while according to the Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeyqami, Iran's average gasoline consumption stands at 63.5 million litres per day.