TEHRAN – From Tuesday Iran will start producing 20 million liters of gasoline based on the euro-4 standard, which will reduce exhaust emissions to 7.2 grams per kilometer from the current 50 grams, the head of the Environment Organization says.

Some experts and environmentalists have partly faulted substandard gasoline for air pollution in big cities.

The production of euro-4 gasoline will be “a great success in reducing air pollution,” Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh told the ILNA news agency.

This shows that the emissions produced by 20 cars are just equal to emissions released by one car, Mohammadizadeh claimed. 

Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh also said that by the end of the next calendar year (March 2013), the euro-5 standard will be applied in gasoline production.

Mohammadizadeh expressed hope that the production of euro-4 gasoline to increase to a degree that meets local consumption which is about 55 million liters per day.

The National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company (NIOPDC) managing director said earlier this month that a number of petrochemical projects will come on stream by the end of spring (June 21), boosting the country’s gasoline output by around 20 million liters per day. 

Four development plans will come on stream by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2012), boosting the country’s gasoline production capacity to 70 million liters per day, the Mehr news agency reported.

Iranian gasoline imports have slumped by as much as 95 percent over the last four years, according to official government data, as rising refinery capacity and lower fuel subsidies help neutralize Western sanctions aimed at starving Tehran of fuel.

Iran has launched a fuel jet production unit at the Shazand Oil Refinery, with the daily production capacity of some 6 million liters, meeting the euro-4 standard, an NIOPDC official said on Saturday.