Increase in Iran's Gasoline Imports

According to reports, Iran has increased its gasoline imports in the first quarter of this year. While recent reports indicated that daily gasoline imports to Iran exceeded 4.5 million liters, Mohsen Qamsari, the director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, stated on Monday, June 15, that the average gasoline imports in the first three months of 1394 (2015) were over five million liters per day. He did not provide a specific figure for gasoline imports but mentioned that 'gasoline imports have varied in different months of spring; for example, more gasoline was imported in June compared to May, but if we want to average it out, less than six million liters of gasoline were imported daily in the first three months of this year.' According to Shana news agency, Qamsari emphasized that gasoline imports are conducted based on the country's consumption standards and in accordance with Euro 4 standards. Regarding the challenges of gasoline imports, he stated that 'given that gasoline is a sanctioned commodity, there are naturally many problems regarding the import of this product in terms of how to pay for gasoline, insurance, and its transportation; however, efforts are being made to resolve these issues through various channels, as our duty is to supply the country's gasoline needs.' Until 2011, when the U.S. sanctions on gasoline exports to this country were not yet imposed, Iran imported 40% of its gasoline consumption. However, after the sanctions, although gasoline imports were not completely halted, they decreased, and Iran resorted to using petrochemical units to produce gasoline to compensate for this. Early last year, the Iranian Ministry of Oil announced that the production of petrochemical gasoline had been completely halted due to its low quality. According to official statistics from the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, Iran imported an average of 4.85 million, 1.5 million, and 3.6 million liters of gasoline per day from 2011 to 2013. Annual statistics for 2014 have not yet been published, but Fars news agency reported on May 12 that Iran imported more than 4.5 million liters of gasoline daily last year. The CEO of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company stated last February that the average daily gasoline imports in Iran had decreased from 'ten million liters' in 2013 to 'four million and 500 thousand liters' in 2014. According to this report, gasoline production in the years following the targeting of subsidies increased from 46 million liters per day in 2010 to a record 67.5 million liters in 2013, but decreased to 64 million liters per day in 2015. In February 2014, Shahrokh Khosrovani, the deputy of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, announced that Iran was preparing to open the 'Persian Gulf' refinery with a production capacity of 12 million liters per day by the end of 2014, and thus gasoline imports would be completely halted. The final production capacity of this refinery has been stated as 35 million liters of gasoline, but as of last month, it had only achieved 83% physical progress. In this context, the Iranian parliament voted to increase fuel product prices in 2015, resulting in a 'more than 50% reduction' in gasoline imports to Iran, an '8 billion dollar' debt of petrochemical companies and refineries to the Ministry of Oil, and an environmental official stating that the pollution of petrochemical gasoline is 40 times above the permissible limit. Gasoline imports to Iran have 'tripled.'