MNA – The first gasoline consignment produced at Setare Khalije Fars Gas Condensate Refinery entered the country’s distribution cycle on Monday June 12.In the wake of inauguration of the first phase of Setare Khalije Fars refinery in Bandar Abbas on April 30, heavy naphta has been injected to the CCR unit and 100 million liters of gasoline have been recovered from the unit.

Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) Abbas Kazemi said the country’s largest gasoline-producing unit has been active since inauguration without any halts or disruptions.

He however underlined that the refinery was still moving towards stabilizing output. “The complex possesses four storage tanks which have so far received 100 million liters of gasoline.”

Kazemi announced that the isomerization unit of the refinery will also come on stream in days to come and explained that, excluding the output volume of Setare Khalije Fars, the country is producing 62 million liters of gasoline while the figure will climb to 70 million litters next month.

Referring to imports of 10 million liters of gasoline so far in the present Iranian calendar year (began March 21), NIORDC head said fuel consumption will naturally rise parallel with economic growth and increased consumption cannot be limited to gas oil only.

Abbas Kazemi reiterated that Setare Khalije Fars has enjoyed favorable conditions since it began operation highlighting that the country’s concerns about energy security were being alleviated.

In response to criticism made by certain media regarding the delay in gasoline production at the large refinery complex, Kazemi explained that refinery units are separate from and independent of each other and one becomes operational only after the previous one had been launched and stabilized.