Tehran, Iran, Oct. 22
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iran's Oil Ministry has formed a team of experts to study the possible ways to increase CNG consumption for vehicles in the country.
Shahaboddin Motaji, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company's director for planning affairs, said that currently some 20 million cubic meters of CNG per day (equal to 20 million liters of gasoline) is being used in Iran, Iran's SHANA News Agency reported on October 22.
"By increasing the figure by 5 million cubic meters, CNG consumption would account for 30 percent of the vehicles' total fuel consumption," he noted.
Managing Director of Iranian Fuel Conservation Company Nasrollah Seifi said on September 1 that Iran has the biggest CNG vehicles fleet in the world.
He said there are about 3.3 million CNG-run cars in the country, while Iran isn't even in top 10 among the world's countries in terms of CNG stations.
"Iran's CNG consumption was around 5 million liters per year in the Iranian calendar year of 1381 (ended March 20, 2003), but the figure reached 7 billion in the calendar year of 1391 (ended March 20, 2013)," he said, adding the figure shows over 1,400 percent increase.
Some 188 CNG stations were built in Iran in the past 12 months.
The country's oil ministry has also signed contracts for construction of nearly one thousand new stations, bringing the total number to over 3,000, Iran's SHANA News Agency reported on August 31.
Managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), Abbas Kazemi said on August 27 that currently there are over 2,200 CNG stations across the country, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.
According to Kazemi, Iran's current CNG consumption rate stands at 21 million liters per day, equal to 20 million liters of gasoline.
"An increase in the country's CNG consumption will lead in a decrease in Iran's gasoline consumption," Kazemi explained.
Kazemi also said on June 24 that Iran's CNG consumption rate will also reach 30 million liters per day by March 20, 2016.
The head of the union of Iranian CNG station owners, Ardeshir Dadras, said on July 7 that some 90 percent of the major cities' taxis, as well as 60 percent of the vehicles used in public transportation sector are currently using CNG.
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