TEHRAN- The average daily gasoline consumption in the country reached 113 million liters in the last days of the previous Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20) as traffic rose, the head of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) stated.

Keramat Veis-Karami said the figure shows 15-million liters growth from 98 million liters consumed averagely in the last days of the preceding year (1399).

Having the production capacity of nearly 120 million liters per day of gasoline, Iran currently has also the capacity to store three billion liters of the strategic fuel.

Although the Islamic Republic is currently self-sufficient in gasoline production, fluctuations in consumption at different periods through the year have led to the creation of storage facilities across the country to manage the sustainable supply and distribution of gasoline.

These tanks will help the country’s refineries continue operating at full capacity if on certain days of the year (such as the Nowruz holidays) gasoline consumption rises significantly, and also prevent any interruption in the supply of the fuel if consumption increases drastically.

In this regard, the capacity of the country’s gasoline storage facilities has increased in recent years, so much so that according to the National Iranian Oil Products Refining and Distribution Company, the volume of gasoline storage has increased from 1.8 billion liters to more than three billion liters.

According to the former NIORDC Managing Director Alireza Sadeq-Abadi, Iran is currently the biggest producer and exporter of gasoline in West Asia.

The country has achieved this success despite the external pressures and hurdles imposed by the U.S. sanctions on its oil industry.

The significant increase in the country’s gasoline production and exports came despite the fact that nearly two years ago Iran was an importer of the strategic product, shipping in 17 million liters per day of gasoline.

MA/MA