TEHRAN – Energy Expert Mohammad Hossein Keshavarz has stressed the need to increase the share of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the country’s fuel basket as it is more clean and economically justifiable for the country.

Speaking to IRNA on Friday, Keshavarz said currently, more than half of the country's CNG capacity is not being used, and by using this capacity, gasoline consumption can be reduced by 20 to 30 million liters per day.

Underlining the importance of CNG in the country’s fuel basket, the scholar said: “First, we need to address the energy imbalance in order to understand the importance of using CNG in the country's fuel basket. The energy imbalance in the country is becoming more serious every day, and according to statistics, three billion dollars of gasoline was imported last year, and due to the increase in fuel consumption and the number of cars in the country, this figure is expected to reach more than four billion dollars next year.”

“So, [if the current trend continues] it seems that we have to set aside billions of dollars to import gasoline every year to solve the gasoline shortage, while the same gasoline that we have imported will be smuggled out of the country and this vicious cycle continues,” he regretted.

He put the country’s current CNG consumption at 21 million cubic meters, which is equivalent to approximately 20 million liters of gasoline, saying: “This figure means that by using the CNG capacity, we were able to save its equivalent in gasoline. While the capacity of using CNG in the country is 50 million cubic meters.”

Following the implementation of the gasoline rationing scheme in 2019, the government started promoting the use of CNG as a replacement for gasoline and declared the mentioned fuel as the country’s national fuel but the plan seemingly has failed to be realized to this day.

EF/MA