Nobakht: Hassan Rouhani Issued Directive to Eliminate Fuel Cards

The spokesperson for the Iranian government has announced that Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic, has issued a directive to eliminate fuel cards. Mohammad Baqer Nobakht stated in a press conference on Tuesday, October 5, that the implementation of this directive falls under the responsibility of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, but no specific date has been announced for this matter. The Islamic Consultative Assembly voted on September 24 of this year to eliminate fuel cards. The removal of fuel cards is being carried out within the framework of Iran's 2016 budget law. Abbas Kazemi, Deputy Minister of Oil of Iran, had previously stated that the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company could not announce any date for the elimination of gasoline fuel cards until the government issued the resolution. The Iranian government has provided fuel cards to car owners since summer 2007 with the aim of reducing gasoline consumption and combating fuel smuggling, making refueling conditional on possessing this card. The initiation of this plan was met with negative reactions and unrest, to the extent that several gas stations in Iran were set on fire. The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) has reported that opponents of the elimination of fuel cards believe this issue "increases the likelihood of smuggling and that the removal of facilities and equipment designated for the fuel card will impose costs on the country." Meanwhile, supporters of the elimination of the fuel card argue that maintaining this card "has no economic justification" because "it is more like a joke to say that a tool that was used to regulate the market and distribute gasoline in a dual-price situation will now lead to savings." The CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company noted that due to seasonal increases in gasoline consumption in the country because of summer holidays, "the amount of gasoline imports has currently reached about 16 million liters per day." The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company announced a week prior that from the beginning of September to mid-month, 80 million and 500 thousand liters of gasoline were consumed daily, and it was predicted that in the coming days, gasoline consumption in Iran could even approach 100 million liters per day.