Seyed Naser Sajjadi, of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC), told reporters on Sunday that implementation of JCPOA and sanctions removal would contribute to the rising consumption of gasoline domestically; “gasoline is the only imported oil and gas product; Iranians consume 71 million liters of gasoline daily. In the first 10 months of the Iranian year, a daily amount of 5 million liters of gas oil have been exported to neighbors especially Pakistan,” he detailed.
“Beginning from June 2016, we will have a single-tier gasoline price and the quotas allocated to credit cards (priced at roughly ¢ 17 per liter) will go on smoke once and for all by the end of October 2016; setting a single-tier price for gasoline has contributed to a declining trend of consumption; when double-tiered, the consumption growth was 6 or 7 per cent, now it is proportionately 2.1 per cent,” Sajjadi told reporters. “We predict a rising trend in the consumption by higher economic activity after removal of sanctions.”
The official figures of oil ministry show a daily import of 4.7 million liters and annually of 1.71 billion liters in the fiscal year ending March 21 2015, which shows an increase of 31 per cent compared to the year before. In the fiscal year ending March 21 2014, 1.28 billion liters of gasoline were imported. With major overhaul of Arak’s Shazand refinery, the figure even soared to almost twice as the imports in the fiscal year ending in March 21 2015.
In the past 9 years, no annual figure exceeded the record set in the fiscal year ending in March 21 2006 when a daily import of 27.5 million liters was recorded. It would probably soar even to a daily figure of 150 million liters if the ministry issued gasoline credit cards to restrict consumption and to tame the refractory mule of the gasoline.
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