Tehran Times - Gasoline production in Iran has exceeded 100 million liters per day, according to the chairman of the Association of Iranian Refining Companies.

The country has achieved total self-reliance in gasoline production and the surplus production is exported to neighboring countries, Nasser Ashouri told IRIB.

Ashouri Mentioned the launch of Persian Gulf Star Refinery�s third phase as the main source of increase in the countries gasoline production capacity, saying that the refinery is currently producing 45 million liters of gasoline on a daily basis.

In late July, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh had said that the country�s daily gasoline production is 15 million liters more than the consumption.

�We are producing 15 million liters of gasoline more than the country�s consumption demand, which we save and we have also started exporting it,� Zanganeh told reporters after a Majlis Economic Committee meeting on July 30.

The minister noted that in addition to gasoline, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is also producing extra levels of gas oil, and jet fuel and the country is in a very good position in terms of refined products.

Following the country�s self-sufficiency in gasoline production, in late July, National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) offered 10,000 tons of gasoline produced in Iran�s Persian Gulf Star Refinery (PGSR) at the international ring of Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX).

According to the Managing Director of IRENEX Ali Hosseini, Afghanistan was the export destination for the 10,000-ton cargo of the first offering.

In the past few years, Iranian think-tanks and energy experts have been repeatedly stating that the country should increase its refining capacity in order to lessen the economy�s reliance on crude sales. In this regard, one of the main strategies of the National Iranian Oil Company in recent years has been focusing on the country�s refineries.

The NIOPDC reports indicates that the country�s daily gasoline production has witnessed a 5 million barrels increase in the past six months.
The increased in the gasoline output has been mostly due to the inauguration of the third phase of PGSR.

President Rouhani inaugurated the third phase of the refinery in a ceremony on February 18 participated by the oil minister.

The refinery in Bandar Abbas, the capital city of southern province of Hormozgan, is the first of its kind designed based on gas condensate feedstock.

EF/