Baku, Azerbaijan, June 27
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran will start importing 10 million liters of gasoline per day in the next two weeks.
Iranian deputy oil minister, Abbas Kazemi, said the administration has taken the decision to import gasoline with the highest international standards, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on June 27.
He also said that imports of MMT (Methylcyclopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl) -- a gasoline additive that enhances octane to reduce knock, has been banned.
The administration has called the Oil Ministry to import gasoline meeting the Euro-4 standard, and has banned the importation of gasoline meeting the Euro-2 standard.
On May 18, Kazemi said Iran will export 10 billion liters of fuel oil and diesel in the current year.
Importing gasoline is economically justified, he added.
Under the international sanctions, three petrochemical units produced gasoline, he said, adding that the domestically produced gasoline was mixed with octane boosters and was supplied to the market. But, there is no longer need to produce such gasoline.
He added that the expansion of CNG stations can prevent excessive gasoline consumption.
The Iranian solar year starts on March 20.
On May 16, Saeid Mahjoubi, an official at the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, said although a consignment of MMT has been imported by Shiraz Oil Refinery, it has not been permitted to use MMT in its gasoline output.
He also said that just 10 percent of the country's total gasoline output is mixed with methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) -- a fuel oxygenate that can help gasoline burn more cleanly.