TEHRAN, Iran, July 16.Iran is likely to start importing gasoline if it faces a shortage in the summer, said the secretary general of the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union Hamid Hosseini, Trend reports citing ILNA.
"The refineries are working with all their capacities at the moment to produce gasoline but it is possible that the country would face a shortage in the summer and start importing oil products," he added.
Speaking about Iran's gasoline export situation the official has noted that the gasoline consumption increased to 120 million liters per day and refineries are not capable to export.
Hosseini underlined that some refineries such as Shazand, Nouri and Bouali Sina Petrochemical companies and certain mini refineries are still exporting gasoline to Iraq, Afghanistan and the UAE.
On November 15, 2019, the Iranian government partly eliminated subsidies on gasoline and started rationing the highly subsidized fuel. One of the major goals of the rationing program was to reduce consumption and cut the dependence of the country on importing gasoline and even make Iran an exporter of the product.