Iran, which was long dependent on imported gasoline for 30-40 percent of its consumption, said last year that it had started exporting the fuel.
“We plan to export 3 to 3.5 million liters of gasoline per day by the end of the current Iranian year (which ends on March
19),” energy official Jalil Salari told the IRNA news agency.
“In regards to ... the conditions of supply and demand in the market, we plan to increase our gasoline exports,” he added.
Traders expressed skepticism over the sustainability of the increase after Iran’s announcement in September that it had achieved self-sufficiency in gasoline production in an emergency plan after sanctions had stopped many companies from selling to Iran.
Converting petrochemical plants to gasoline production has been the main way of boosting production in Iran.
Iran had been forced to import due to a lack of sufficient refining capacity, an economic weak spot deliberately targeted by sanctions over Iran’s disputed atomic work.
Salari also said Iran was currently exporting gasoline to neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan.
