Iranian Official on Mobile Gas Stations, Unpopularity of Super Petrol

Text of unattributed report headlined” Foreigners’ participation in construction of petrol stations” published by Iranian newspaper Aftab-e Yazd on 25 Sep; subhead as published

It is possible to provide petrol to about 24,000 automobiles per day by increasing the number of mobile petrol stations to 40.

Speaking to Moj news agency, [Nureddin Shahnazizadeh] the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company [NIOPDC] said that building and expanding mobile petrol stations is a short term method for increasing the capacity of providing fuel to vehicles in major cities. He said: According to the considered programme, in the first phase of the project 22 and in the second phase 18 mobile petrol stations will be installed and start operating in Tehran.

According to Shahnazizadeh, installation and operation of the 18 stations of the second phase of the project will be completed by the next month.

He said: Using the mobile stations is not permanent, and once there will be enough …stations, then gradually the number of mobile stations will be decreased. Pointing out the existence of about 110 petrol stations in Tehran, he said: According to the estimations and considering the number of vehicles, at least 220 petrol stations are required.

He talked about the construction of a large modern station with 32 pumps in the east of Tehran in partnership with a foreign company. He said: If suitable lands for building stations will be provided, the NIOPDC is capable to construct minimum 50 to 100 new stations in Tehran within six months with participation of the private sector.

Super petrol is still not popular

According to the president of the syndicate of gas station owners [Bizhan Hajmohammadreza], despite the revision in the price of super petrol by the government, this product is not as popular as it used to be. Speaking to Borna [news network], Hajmohammadreza announced that after the second round of petrol rationing and changing the price of super petrol, it was observed that people did not use this product much. He said: The petrol station owners have changed their super petrol tanks to regular petrol, because of downfall in the sale and to avoid financial damages.

According to him at the moment there are only seven private stations and seven state stations which supply super petrol and these stations are supplying super petrol with 70 nozzles. Saying that the rate of super petrol sale has decreased to one third, he added: Now, with changing the price of super petrol, a weak motivation has been created for the customers buying [petrol] in rations but this product will never be as popular as it used to be.

Prior to this, he had announced that consumption of super petrol had decreased from 2.5m litres per day has to 160,000 litres per day.

Originally published by Aftab-e Yazd, Tehran, in Persian 25 Sep 08.

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