Iran reduces oil product imports by half

May 14, 1997 Iran plans to cut its imports of refined oil products to $ 300 mm in the year to March 1998, half the amount in the previous year, a state planning official said. Mehdi Rahmati, the official in charge of energy affairs at the Plan and Budget Organisation, told the imports were expected to fall to $ 300 mm in the Iranian year ending on March 20, 1998 from $ 610 mm the previous year. He said this was due to an increase in domestic refining capacity after the Bandar Abbas refinery comes onstream and an expected fall in consumption after recent price increases. A member of the technical staff at the refinery, being built near the port city of Bandar Abbas at the mouth of the Gulf, said the 232,000 bpd plant would be commissioned within two months.
Iranian officials had earlier expressed hope that the country would become self-sufficient in oil products after the commissioning of the refinery which is due to supply 7 mm litres a day of unleaded gasoline, among other products.
Iran in April raised the retail price of refined products including petrol, kerosene, diesel and fuel oil by up to 33 % as part of planned yearly adjustments to reduce heavy state subsidies for fuel and curb high consumption.
Though Iran is the world's third largest oil exporter, it has had to import some oil products, such as gasoline, to meet local demand.