Iran self-sufficient in gasoline production: Zanganeh
Iran is now self-sufficient in gasoline production, announced Iran’s oil minister on Monday following the inauguration of the third phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
According to Reuters quoting Iran’s state TV, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh further said, “Fortunately, we do not need to import gasoline anymore. We have attained self-sufficiency. We can export gasoline but have no export plans.”
OPEC member Iran has for years imported gasoline to meet domestic fuel demands due to the 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 gasoline per day.
Reuters also reported that oil prices rose to their highest levels in 2019 on Monday, lifted by OPEC-LED supply cuts and by US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures hit $56 per barrel for the first time this year, before edging back to $55.89 per barrel by 0051 GMT. That was still 0.5-percent above their last settlement.
International Brent crude futures hit a 2019-high of $66.61 per barrel early on Monday before easing to $66.47 per barrel, still up 0.3 percent from their last close.
For both benchmarks, those were their highest levels since November 2018.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as some non-affiliated producers such as Russia, agreed late last year to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (mbd) to prevent a large supply overhang from swelling more.
Further pushing up crude prices have been US sanctions against oil exporters and Opec-members Iran and Venezuela.