TEHRAN - Iranian Oil Ministry says gasoline storage capacity in the country has increased by nearly 70% to 3 billion liters as the government seeks to improve its control over supplies to the domestic and foreign markets.
A Thursday report by the official IRNA agency said that Iran had briefly halted exports of gasoline to boost supplies in its storage houses as the country nears the cold months of the year when demand for fuel is expected to rise.
The report said an average of 36 million liters of gasoline produced per day by domestic refiners go to storage houses while around 84 million liters are consumed mainly by motorists in the country.
Iran was a net importer of gasoline nearly a decade ago when it had problems buying nearly 10 million liters per day of the fuel under a previous round of international sanctions over its nuclear program.
Implementing refits in some state refineries and creating new crude processing facilities, Iran has managed to become a major exporter of gasoline in recent years despite the fact that its energy sector is still under sanctions by the United States.
Gasoline was responsible for 82.5% or seven million metric tons of Iran’s total crude products exports in the calendar year to March 2021.
Those shipments generated nearly 570 trillion rials ($2.3 billion) worth of revenues for the country over the period, according to figures provided by the government.
Overseas gasoline shipments are mostly aimed at Iran’s neighbors although supplies have reached countries in Africa, East Asia and South America.