An Iranian petroleum industry source has denied reports suggesting that fuel production in the country has declined because of the lack of proper management on renovation operations in refineries.
Nasser Ashouri, who serves as secretary general of Iran’s syndicate of refineries, said on Monday that production of gasoline and diesel in the country’s main refineries had remained unchanged in the calendar year that started in March compared to the previous years.
“We have not seen any drop in the output of (oil) products in year 1401 and refineries have been operating at a full capacity of 2.2 million tons (per year),” said Ashouri.
He said that current gasoline output in Iran is 90-100 million liters per day, adding that diesel fuel output is around 100 million liters per day.
The comments came after reports in local media published on Saturday cited figures from the Iranian Oil Ministry’s accounting department that showed gasoline output in the country had dropped from a maximum of 115 million liters per day reported in 2020 to below 100 million liters per day.
The reports claimed that managers in top refineries in Iran, including in the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, the largest gasoline producer in the country, had failed to implement renovation projects according to their timetables.
That comes as Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji has rejected gasoline output figures reported by a previous administration as he believes that real production figure is around 106 million liters per day.
Ashouri said, however, that Iran may need to resume imports of gasoline in the upcoming years if the domestic demand for the fuel outpaces current production capacity.