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Iran denies gasoline price increase plan

Oil&Gas Materials 21 January 2013 18:34 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.21/ Trend F.Milad‎‏

Iran is not going to increase the price of gasoline, Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance Affairs Shamseddin Hosseini said on Monday.

Some media reported in the past days that the government plans to increase gasoline and diesel oil prices as part of the subsidy reform plan's phase two.

Hosseini referred to the mentioned reports as baseless rumors, adding that if the government ever planned to increase the prices, it would be announced officially.

Iran will start selling gasoline conforming to Euro-4 standard in 8 cities from February.

The gasoline would be produced at Shazand oil refinery, the Fars News Agency reported.

The move is a part of Iran's efforts to reduce air pollution. Motor vehicles account for 70 percent of air pollution in the Iranian capital city. Tehran says all carmakers would be obliged to manufacture cars meeting Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards.

The Managing Director of Lavan Oil Refinery Company (LORC) Mohammad-Ali Dadvar said last week that Iran will double its gasoline production capacity at Persian Gulf refineries by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

The refineries' produced gasoline meets Euro-5 standard, he said.

Iranian Standards Organization's Deputy Director Bahador Kazemi also said earlier this month that Iranian refiners have been obliged to supply gasoline meeting Euro-4 standards since the beginning of the next Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2013).

The produced gasoline currently meets Euro-2 standards, he said, adding that newly established refineries are able to produce gasoline which meets both Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards.

In December 2012, IRNA quoted Ali-Mohammad Sha'eri, the Iranian environment protection department's deputy director, as saying that some 50 million liters of gasoline and diesel, meeting euro-4 and euro-5 standards, will be produced in Iran by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.

The amount of fuel will be produced by Shazand, Tondgouyan, Abadan and Lavan refineries, he added.

In October 2012, ISNA quoted National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company's managing director Alireza Zeighami as saying that Iran is currently producing 25 million liters of premium gasoline per day, meeting euro-4 and euro-5 standards.

The country's gasoline output is projected to hit 70 million liters per day by the end of the next Iranian calendar year, he added.

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