Iran self-sufficient in fuel production

Iran has increased its gasoline production by 50 percentage points to become self-sufficient in the sector, the Iranian oil minister has announced.

Iran’s daily gasoline production increased from 44 million to over 66 million litters, which means Tehran no longer has to import any gasoline, Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying on Tuesday.

“In view of the recent conditions in the wake of the sanctions and the mischievousness of some sellers in increasing gasoline price, the increased production of this product began at the (refining) units 20 days ago,” he said

Mirkazemi, who was speaking after a Cabinet meeting, said the current daily production was achieved during the previous week.

The UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in June over the country’s nuclear program.

The US, the European Union and a number of countries imposed their own unilateral sanctions against Iran, mainly targeting Tehran’s oil and gas sector.

Iran had earlier announced plans to reach self-sufficiency in gasoline production through constructing new refineries and updating existing ones.