Iran's gasoline and diesel storage capacity has reached 13 billion liters, the head of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, said.
“NIOPDC's storage facilities cover a wide geographical area, namely Neka in Mazandaran, Malayer in Hamedan, Rey in Tehran and Kharg Island, Asalouyeh, Mahshahr and Genaveh in Bushehr Province, and new units are under construction in Khuzestan and Hormozgan,” Ali Akbar Nejad-Ali was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
Close to 91.5 billion liters of oil and derivatives, including liquefied petroleum gas, mazut, diesel and gasoline, are transferred annually across the nation via pipelines, vessels and tanker trucks, he added.
The official noted that the length of NIOPDC's pipelines to transfer oil byproducts exceeds 14,000 kilometers, accounting for 36% of the total volume of oil byproducts transfer, adding that the state-run company’s fleet is equipped with 10,000 oil tanker trucks, 62 LPG road tankers and 10 oil tankers.
The grid moved 22 billion liters of crude and petroleum products in 1979, which figure has currently reached 90 billion liters per annum, up 300%.
The official noted that the company is using intelligent pigging of pipelines, controlling metal corrosion by using cathodic protection technique and undertaking regular inspections of installations to reduce the likelihood of accidents, theft and enhance safety.
“Repair and renovation of pipelines are carried out on a regular basis for the sustainable and safe delivery of crude oil and byproducts,” he added.
Referring to a project to export LPG from Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, he noted that the plan was implemented to help prevent the annual flaring of 2,000 tons of LPG in the past.
Through the marine LPG export plan, Iran will earn up to $360 million of income annually.
By taking infrastructural measures such as setting up Siraf Pars Port, completing the remaining units of South Pars refineries and pursuing the marketing of LPG, a significant amount of the gas is saved. So, despite a 15% increase in production during the said period, the amount of LPG burned during this period declined by 10%.
As a result of these measures, the amount of LPG exported during the period under review reached 2,608,000 tons which, compared with the same period of a year ago, shows a rise of about 15%.
LPG is produced by Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company in the southwestern Khuzestan Province and Fajr Jam Gas Refinery in the southern Bushehr Province.
LPG accounts for 2% of the fuel used in the domestic transportation sector. There are at least 1.2 million cars equipped with LPG kits across the country.
Fuel Basket
Although adding LPG to the fuel basket will reduce gasoline consumption by 15 million liters per day, which can be exported, the Oil Ministry is against it.
Since each ton of LPG can be sold at $500 in international markets and there is high international demand for it, it is more profitable to export it. Iran is currently exporting around 500,000 tons of LPG per month.
“The consumption of petroleum products, including liquefied petroleum gas, mazut, diesel and gasoline, has witnessed a 9.4% growth compared to last year.”
Daily gasoline use has surpassed 120 million liters and NIOC has started tapping into strategic reserves.
NIOC’s maximum capacity to produce gasoline is 110 million liters per day.
All refineries in Iran are producing at full capacity and output cannot increase any further. To meet rapidly growing demand, new facilities must be built.
According to Nasser Ashouri, secretary-general of the Association of Iranian Refining Companies, there is no quick fix for the fuel shortages because arrangements such as building new refineries or manufacturing fuel-efficient cars are either not feasible or produce results in the long run.
“The construction of Shahid Soleimani Petro-Refining Plant in Bandar Abbas and Mokran Refinery in Jask Port, both in Hormozgan Province, has started, but estimates show that the projects will come on stream in 2025,” he said.
“If and when the new plants go on stream after three years, they can increase NIOC’s refining capacity by 600,000 barrels per day. But the state-run National Iranian Oil Company should have initiated the plan much earlier and raising production level overnight is next to impossible.”
The official stressed that the association has long called for rewriting rules to prevent state and private refineries from going bankrupt and provide easy loans to refiners to help improve quality.
Referring to other alternatives to curtail rising gasoline consumption and avoid imports, Ashouri said, “Pinning hope on automakers to manufacture energy-efficient cars has been an exercise in futility. They have shown utter negligence and indifference when it comes to producing vehicles whose mileage complies with global norms [less than 7 liters/100 km].”
“The next best option is to accelerate the nationwide plan to convert 1.4 million gasoline-powered public transportation and commercial vehicles to compressed natural gas hybrids, which was launched in 2019,” he added.
