BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 15
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Iran has no intention to raise diesel prices, Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters, Trend reports via ISNA.
Although a quota is applied on diesel fuel, the smuggling of this oil product is greater than that of gasoline, Zanganeh said.
Commenting on the decline in gasoline consumption in Iran, Zanganeh added that the daily gasoline consumption has been reduced by 22 million liters since the introduction of gasoline quotas. The minister added that work should be done to stabilize this figure in the upcoming months.
Moreover, the minister, talking about Iran's South Pars gas field, noted that the 11th phase of the field is fully entrusted to Petropars, which will carry out its development.
On Nov. 15, 2019, the price of gasoline sold on quota increased from 10,000 rials (23 cents) to 15,000 rials (35 cents) and the price of gasoline sold free from the quota increased to 30,000 rials (71 cents) in Iran.
According to the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company's statement on Dec. 8, an average of 98.7 million liters of gasoline were consumed daily from October 23 till November 15 (the day when the quota was applied and gasoline price increased), and an average of 76.6 million liters of gasoline was consumed daily from November 15 through December 6.
The South Pars Gas Field is a joint gas field between Iran and Qatar. The proven reserves have reached 51 trillion cubic meters of gas and it is possible to extract 36 trillion cubic meters of gas.
Presently, 630 million cubic meters of gas may be extracted from Iran's South Pars gas field daily.
After new platforms are commissioned at five phases (13, 14, 22, 23 and 24), gas production volume will increase up to 680 million cubic meters a day.