DUBAI: Iran has become self-sufficient in petrol production, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Monday after 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 [petrol] 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 petrol and naphtha. Zanganeh said that with the inauguration of the new phase, the refinery would produce 45 million litres of petrol per day.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2019