TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Tuesday that the country’s daily gasoline production is 15 million liters more than the consumption, IRNA reported.

“We are producing 15 million liters of gasoline more than the country’s consumption demand, which we save and we have also started exporting it,” Zanganeh told reporters after a Majlis Economic Committee meeting.

The official noted that in addition to gasoline, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is also producing extra levels of gas oil, and jet fuel and the country is in a very good position in terms of refined products.

For the first time on Wednesday, National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) offered 10,000 tons of gasoline produced in Iran’s Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGSR) at the international ring of Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX).

According to the Managing Director of IRENEX Ali Hosseini, Afghanistan is the export destination for the 10,000-ton cargo of the first offering.

Since the U.S.’s withdrew from Iran’s nuclear pact in May 2018, vowing to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero, the Islamic Republic has been taking various measures to counter U.S. actions and to lessen its economy’s reliance on oil.

In the past few years, Iranian think-tanks and energy experts have been repeatedly stating that the country should increase its refining capacity in order to lessen the economy’s reliance on crude sales. In this regard, one of the main strategies of the National Iranian Oil Company in recent years has been focusing on the country’s refineries.

In early July, Zanganeh announced that the country’s daily gasoline production exceeded 110 million liters to mark a new record in the country’s gasoline production history.

The NIOPDC reports indicates that the country’s daily gasoline production has witnessed a 5 million barrels increase in the past six months.

The increased in the gasoline output has been mostly due to the inauguration of the third phase of PGSR.

President Rouhani inaugurated the third phase of the refinery in a ceremony on February 18 participated by the oil minister. 

The refinery in Bandar Abbas, the capital city of southern province of Hormozgan, is the first of its kind designed based on gas condensate feedstock.

EF/MA