Tehran - Tehran
Iran is now exporting gasoline and diesel fuel to neighboring countries, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company announced on Tuesday. NIORDC Managing Director Alireza Zeighami said that Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are now importing or have called for the importation of gasoline and diesel fuel from Iran, the Fars News Agency reported. Iran has been negotiating to increase diesel fuel exports to Iraq from the current level of 1.5 million liters per day, he added. He went on to say that Afghanistan has made a request for the importation of 2 million liters of diesel fuel per day from Iran. “Armenia… has requested to import one million liters of gasoline and one million liters of diesel fuel per day from Iran,” he said. Zeighami stated that Pakistan is also seeking to import gasoline and diesel fuel from Iran. Pakistan and Iran are now negotiating on the issue, and “in the near future, Iran will start exporting petrochemical products to Pakistan,” he added. On July 17, Zeighami said that the gasoline export capacity of the Islamic Republic has witnessed considerable growth due to the rise in production and the fall in domestic consumption, Press TV reported. He noted that the country’s gasoline production capacity has increased to 70 million liters per day, while consumption has decreased to around 54 million liters per day. In February, Zeighami said that Iran began making marketing plans for the export of gasoline, adding that NIORDC issued a permit for the export of one billion liters of gasoline. Zeighami also stated that the Oil Ministry plans to export other oil products such as diesel fuel, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas.