Self-sufficiency in gasoline production even with low-quality gasoline

According to Energy Press, while the officials of the Ministry of Oil are announcing the production of gasoline at the level of European standards, i.e. Euro 4 and Euro 5, this claim has been contradicted in the recent resolution of the Council of Ministers. According to paragraph 2 of the feed rate amendment resolution of the Board of Ministers, which was approved on the production of low-quality gasoline, it is stated: “If, with the aim of increasing the production of gasoline, Iran’s National Company for Refining and Distribution of Petroleum Products requires the refinery companies to produce gasoline with normal quality. slow, produced gasoline is not subject to rate adjustment due to quality reduction.”

Gasoline is one of the strategic goods for Iran’s economy. After the cash subsidy that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad imposed on Iran’s economy and subsequent governments continued this strategic mistake, cheap gasoline is a major challenge for Iran’s economy, which consumes billions of Tomans of the country’s money every day. It falls in the well of Will; A well that has no bottom and no end can be imagined.

Every government that has come to office has faced the insoluble equation of gasoline, on one side of which are the people, and on the other side of the story is putting pressure on the refineries to produce more; The more the better, even if the quality is lower.

In the past two years, the shortage of fuel has forced the government to import gasoline, in addition to putting pressure on the government’s empty treasury and imposing losses on refineries, it has also increased the poor quality of gasoline. It has come to the point that even the Taliban did not accept this gasoline and sent Iran’s gasoline shipments back several times due to non-standard, however, the same low-quality gasoline was sent to gas stations and people’s cars to pollute the air more and car owners pay more for catalysts. Pay for their cars.

Production lags behind consumption

The low quality of Iran’s gasoline has been disputed by domestic bodies for years. The Standard Organization, the Environmental Organization, and some private sector organizations have repeatedly questioned the low quality of produced gasoline, but the officials of the Ministry of Petroleum have denied these reports and even claim that Iran’s gasoline is at par with European standards.

Not long ago, a report was published, based on which it was found that only one-fifth of the gasoline produced in the country meets Euro 4 and Euro 5 standards. According to this report, only 3.7 million liters of Euro 4 gasoline are produced daily in the Shazand refinery and 15 million liters of Euro 5 gasoline in the Isfahan refineries. It is produced in Tabriz and Bandar Abbas.
Insistence on the production of gasoline – both low-quality and high-quality – has also affected the refineries. According to the new formula of the feed rate of the refining industry announced by the government, it has been emphasized that the gasoline produced with lower octane should be lower in order to increase the feed rate received by the refinery. According to the refiners, this issue is highly damaging and a risk for the shareholders. is considered.

Before the end of the corona quarantines, the production of gasoline in the country was reported to be around 94 million liters. With the end of quarantines and the increase in demand for gasoline, gasoline consumption gradually increased. The 13th government has announced the amount of gasoline production to be around 117 million liters, while some sources report that no new capacity has been created in refineries and what is reported as an increase in gasoline production is actually petrochemical gasoline, which means a significant part of the diesel gasoline. From mixing with petrochemicals, aromatics and octane boosters, it reaches 105 million liters.