Azerbaijan, Baku, Jul.1/ Trend F.Milad/
By inaugurating a gasoline production unit at the Tabriz Refinery, northeast of Iran, the country's gasoline output will be boosted by one million liters per day, the Tabriz Oil Refining Company's managing director said.
Esmaeil Aqapour added that the project has progressed by 93 percent. The refinery's daily gasoline production capacity will surge to 3.6 million liters from 2.6 million liters.
Some $250 million has so far been invested in the project and the unit is expected to come on stream by March 2012, the Fars News Agency reported.
Gasoline with octane numbers of 90, 92 and 95 will be produced in the refinery, meeting Euro5 standards, he said.
A number of petrochemical projects will come on stream by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2013), which will boost the country's gasoline output by around 12 million liters per day, the National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company's managing director said in May.
Gasoline production units at the Imam Khomeini, Shazand, Abadan, Tondgouyan and Lavan refineries will be put into operation by the end of the year, Alireza Zeighami said, the ISNA News Agency reported.
Iran exported over 132,000 tons of gasoline, worth around $134 million, in the past calendar year.
According to the Customs Administration data, the gasoline exports rose by 127 percent in value and 108.5 percent in volume, respectively, compared to the year before.
Armenia, Afghanistan, UAE, Iraq and Oman were the destinations for Iranian gasoline, the report said, adding that Afghanistan was the major importer, accounting for $51.6 million of the total exports.
Iranian gasoline imports have slumped by as much as 95 percent over the last four years, according to official government data, as rising refinery capacity and lower fuel subsidies help neutralize western sanctions aimed at starving Tehran of fuel.