Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.17 /Trend, A.Yusifzade /
Iranian deputy minister of petroleum Abdolhousain Bayat denied reducing gasoline production at Iranian petrochemical plants, Irna reported.
"Previously, there was no need to increase production at Iranian petrochemical complexes, but today, Iran has achieved self-sufficiency in gasoline production", Abdolhousain Bayat said today.
Iranian deputy minister of petroleum said that Iran's petrochemical production and exports increased by more than 35 percent for the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year started on March 21 2010.
Abdolhousain Bayat said that petrochemical sales during the seven months of the year totaled 14.130 million tons up to 32 percent compared to the same period of last year.
He added that more than 9.560 million tons of petrochemicals were exported showing a 33 percent increase compared to the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, petrochemical exports revenue was fixed at $5.7 billion, up to 62 percent compared to the corresponding period the previous year.
Regarding domestic sale, deputy minister of petroleum noted that 4.57 million tons of petrochemicals, up to 29 percent were offered within the country on the Bourse or as feedstock to other petrochemical plants.
The managing director of the National Petrochemical Company has already stated that the company has the capacity of producing up to 17 million tons of petrochemicals a day.
Bayat said that gasoline production at the aromatic units would be continued unless the officials change their mind.
He stated that petrochemicals are exported normally although it was confirmed that few aromatic products are being used for gasoline production.
Bayat said that meeting domestic needs is our top priority and the issue has been stipulated in our sale contracts.
He criticized some media outlets who had argued that a large part of the exported petrochemicals has been halted due to the gasoline production plan.
The official added that these news circulations could not overshadow the gasoline production of the petrochemical plants as a national initiative of coping with pressure put by some foreign countries against Iran.