Iran Boosts Gasoline Production

Iran started implementation of an urgent plan on 24 October 2009 to supply its domestic gasoline needs through a giant boost in the production capacity of its refineries, a move widely seen as a preemptive effort to curb impacts of possible US sanctions on the country's gasoline supplies. "The implementation of the urgent plan for gasoline production started at the zero hour on 24 October 2009 (24:00 Tehran time)," an official said on the condition of anonymity.

The plan focuses on supplying the country's needed gasoline within 48 hours to curb the possible impacts of sanctions imposed by the US on the country. The initiative first proposed by the Iranian Petroleum Minister, Masoud Mir-Kazemi, proposes change in the production process of a number of Iranian petrochemical complexes. Orders for the implementation of the urgent plan came days after the US lawmakers passed a bill barring companies that sell fuel to Iran from winning deals with the US government. The bill was included in the Department of Energy's proposed 2010 budget that passed by an 80-17 vote in the Senate.

The House of Representatives has already approved a similar measure, which now goes to President Barack Obama for signing. Both chambers must approve identical legislation before it can go to Obama to sign into law. The measure states that no foreign company that sells more than US$1 million worth of refined petroleum products to Iran can bid for Department of Energy contracts.

In August 2009, Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), Nouroddin Shahnazizadeh, announced that the daily gasoline production in Iran will increase by 13 milllion liters per day once the plan for the optimization of gasoline production in the existing refineries is completed. He further pointed out that phase 1 of Abadan refinery will go online by March 2010, adding that the refinery is to produce 6 to 7 million liters of gasoline per day.

The country also plans to optimize Lavan, Isfahan, Tehran, Abadan and Arak refineries to increase their output respectively by 2, 6.4, 6.4, 6.2 and 11.5 million liters. - Fars