Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.1
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Gasoline consumption in Iran has been declining despite a car production rise over the past year.
Alireza Bayat, an official with Iran's Headquarters against Contraband and Currency Trafficking, said despite the fact that over 1.3 million vehicles have been manufactured between September 22, 2013 and September 22, 2014, gasoline consumption has decreased in the country, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on November 1.
He added that in the first six months of Iranian year 1392 (March 2013-September 2013), gasoline consumption rose by 7 percent compared to the same period in the year before.
Iran's oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has proposed $12 billion worth of projects to the National Economy Council to reduce fuel consumption.
Zanganeh has proposed eight plans to be approved by the National Economy Council, aiming to reduce the consumption of gasoline, diesel fuel, and natural gas, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on September 30.
The national budget bill has allowed the Oil Ministry to implement $100 billion of projects to reduce the consumption of fuel.
The projects include supplying gas to villages, renovating the public transportation fleet, and electrification of diesel engines.
On Sept. 15, Shahrokh Khosravani, deputy director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) said that the Islamic Republic has decreased gasoline imports to 4.7 million liters per day from the forecasted figure of 10 million liters, thanks to suitable storage and consumption management.