Gas Rationing Plan
See also: National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution CompanyIran took action to reduce its dependence on foreign gasoline through a three-pronged strategy which includes:
- Significant expansion of Iran’s refining capacity
- Securing gasoline imports from friendly allies
- Reducing the use of gasoline
- Development of the public transport system
A special committee set up by the government came up with a four-point program which includes:
- Conversion of most existing cars to run on natural gas within five years at a rate of 1.2 million annually. This will begin with conversion of 600,000 public and governmental cars to NGV.
- Phase out of very old cars (approximately 1.2 million) by 2010.
- As of June 2007, most of the newly manufactured cars will have to be able to run on natural gas.
- Within five years most of Iran’s 10,000 refueling stations will be retrofitted to serve natural gas.
The Iranian government provides incentives to CNG car buyers and has meanwhile decreased the gasoline subsides. Iran is the Middle East's leading car manufacturer. In 2005 Iranian automakers produced nearly one million vehicles including 884,000 passenger cars and 104,000 heavy vehicles, altogether worth $11.6 billion. The Iranian government aims to have most of Iran’s cars running on natural gas by 2015.
The restrictions began at midnight local time on Wednesday 27 June (2030 GMT Tuesday) and are set to continue for four months. The rationing system, allows private drivers only 100 liters (26 gallons) of fuel per month at the subsidized price. Taxis get 800 liters (211 gallons) a month. Anything more than that will have to be bought at a higher price, which officials say will be announced within the next two months. The fuel rationing has triggered widespread discontent in Iran, but if it succeeds in reducing the amount of imported gasoline, it could help insulate the country from international pressure related to its nuclear program.
Based on the current rationing plan, each private car receives 120 liters per month at about 10 cents per liter. Currently, the price for non-rationed gasoline is almost 40 cents (November 2008).
Read more about this topic: 2007 Gasoline Rationing Plan In Iran
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