Posted by November 29, 2009
Source:
TEHRAN – , which could face gasoline sanctions over its nuclear energy program, will raise daily imports of gasoline and diesel fuel by 27 percent to 31 million liters by March, semi-official news agency Mehr said on Sunday.
“It is predicted that the daily imports of gasoline and gas oil (diesel fuel) will rise to 22 and 9 million liters per day respectively, by the end of this year,” it quoted Deputy Oil Minister Noureddin Shahnazizadeh as saying.
The current ian year ends March 20.
“The average amount of gasoline and gas oil imported since the beginning of the current year were about 21 and 3.4 million liters per day respectively,” said Shahnazizadeh, who is also Managing Director of National ian Oil Refining an d Distribution Company (NIORDC).
is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter but lacks sufficient refining capacity to meet domestic gasoline needs, forcing it to import up to 40 percent of its needs.
This makes the Islamic republic vulnerable to any Western decision to target the gasoline trade as a way to put pressure on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.
The United States and its European allies fear is trying to build nuclear bombs under cover of a civilian program to generate electricity.
ian officials have repeatedly shrugged off the impact of sanctions, including three rounds imposed by the U.N.
This month raised domestic gasoline production by 14 million liters per day to a total of 58.5 million liters but for only a few days, in a move intended to show the West the government could cope with any sanctions.
(Reporting by Reza Derakhshi, Writing by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Mike Nesbit)