Export of Gasoline Production Raw Material to the UAE Amid Fuel Shortages in Iran

The head of the Union of Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Product Exporters states that while the country faces a significant gasoline shortage, petrochemical units are exporting their produced 'reformate', a raw material for gasoline production, to the United Arab Emirates. Ahmad Maroofkhani stated on Tuesday, October 3, to ILNA that many domestic petrochemical companies are currently exporting gasoline production additives. He continued, 'For example, last week we witnessed the export of 'reformate' to the UAE market, while this same product could be combined with 'naphtha' domestically to produce desirable and high-quality gasoline.' A confidential report from the Ministry of Oil, previously obtained by Radio Farda, shows that daily deliveries of reformate by petrochemical units to the country's refineries fell from over 3 million liters last year to 1.3 million liters this April. The country’s refineries produce 14.5 million liters of naphtha daily, part of which is also exported. These refineries could produce higher quality gasoline if they received more reformate from petrochemical complexes, but it seems the government is deliberately trying to produce low-quality gasoline instead of high-quality gasoline, possibly to reduce the burden of fuel subsidies on the government. The quality of gasoline production in Iran 'has been reduced at the government's request.' In recent days, the secretary of the Oil Refining Employers' Association and the CEO of the Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Investment Company confirmed that the government has significantly reduced the production of standard gasoline and focused on producing low-quality gasoline. The confidential report from the Ministry of Oil also indicates that Iran's production of Euro 4 gasoline in the year 1401 was nearly three times that of this April. The production of Euro 5 gasoline and super gasoline has also dropped by 3% and 30%, respectively. Overall, the production of Euro 4, Euro 5, and super gasoline during the mentioned period decreased from 29 million liters to 20 million liters. The head of the Union of Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Product Exporters further stated that the first project that could help with the gasoline shortage is the 'Persian Gulf Mehr' project, which is expected to be operational by February 2025 at the earliest. The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is responsible for developing the 'Persian Gulf Mehr' refinery, which will use ultra-light oil (gas condensate) as feedstock. This IRGC entity previously launched the 'Star of the Persian Gulf' refinery, which, despite refining ultra-light oil, is unable to produce Euro gasoline. The production capacity of the 'Persian Gulf Mehr' refinery is reported to be 13 million liters per day, which is equivalent to one-third of the capacity of the Star of the Persian Gulf refinery.