DUBAI, Feb 18 – Iran has become self-sufficient in gasoline production, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Monday after the inauguration of the third phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
“Fortunately, we do not need to import gasoline anymore. We have reached self-sufficiency. We can export our produced gasoline but have no export plans,” Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Iran‘s state TV.
OPEC member Iran has for years struggled to meet its domestic fuel needs because of a lack of refining capacity and international sanctions that limited the supply of spare parts for plant maintenance.
Iran’s Persian Gulf Star Refinery converts light crude, known as condensate, into gasoline and naphtha.
Zanganeh said that with the inauguration of the new phase, the refinery would produce 45 million liters of petrol per day.
U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran last year and reimposed sanctions on Iran‘s oil and banking sectors.
(Writing by Parisa Hafezi Editing by David Goodman)
