TEHRAN- In mid-November 2019, the Iranian government started rationing of subsidized gasoline and increased fuel prices as it plans to use the revenue for supporting underprivileged families.

Since then, implementation of the rationing plan has led to the reduction of gasoline consumption, while promoting the consumption of compressed natural gas (CNG) in the country.

Iran’s CNG consumption stood at 19 million cubic meters (mcm) per day before the implementation of the fuel rationing scheme, it is while last week, an official with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) announced that the daily consumption of CNG has reached 25 million cubic meters in Iran.

Mohammad-Hossein Baqeri, the director of the CNG plan of the NIORDC, also put the daily capacity of the country’s CNG stations at 40-45 mcm.

To promote the consumption of CNG instead of gasoline, the government has already started some programs, among them converting cars to the dual-fuel vehicles, and increasing the number of CNG stations across the country are two major ones.

There are currently 2,400 CNG stations across Iran that supply 22 percent of the country’s fuel basket.

Iranian Oil Ministry considers CNG as the national fuel, therefore, to increase the share of this fuel in the country's energy basket, it was planned to turn 1.46 million public vehicles into dual-fuel cars, which can increase CNG consumption by 10 mcm per day.

As announced by Baqeri, six contractors were selected for converting 1.46 million public vehicles into the dual-fuel cars in the first place, and the contractors were supposed to equip 186 centers to do the job.

Oil Ministry has been supportive of the industry since the very beginning through supporting the production of CNG-powered engines and converting automobile plants to manufacture dual-fuel cars in this regard.

To promote using of dual-fuel vehicles, several incentives are also offered.

One of them, which has been recently announced, is offering the periodical vehicle inspections free of charge for five years to the public transport vehicles converted to the dual-fuel cars.

It should be also mentioned that supporting the plan for using dual-fuel vehicles, Iran’s first dual-fuel locomotive engine has been recently unveiled.

During a ceremony on September 20, Iran Heavy Diesel Manufacturing Company unveiled the country’s first dual-fuel locomotive engine.

Speaking in the unveiling ceremony of the 4,000-horsepower heavy engine, Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Saeed Rasouli stressed that the manufacturing of this engine is a significant success for the country’s rail industry and will play a significant role in reducing the industry’s reliance on foreign sources.