• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Iran Press: Article Blames Low Prices for High Oil Consumption

Posted on: Sunday, 19 February 2006, 18:00 CST

Text of unattributed article: "Iranians' wastefulness in energy consumption", published by the Iranian newspaper E'temad website on 15 February

Economic Group: Since the discovery of the first oil well by Adrian Derek in Pennsylvania in the United States, 111 years have passed. Since that year, oil has constantly been the most important source of fuel in the world, such that the consumption of this energy alongside other energies has now become the most important issue and without exaggeration the most important problem of the world, and the International Energy Agency believes that the recognized oil and natural gas resources of the world exceed the present need [as published]. Hence, in the near future we shall face an energy shortage crisis.

Hence, the consumption of energy in the country has a decisive role. But unfortunately the level of per-capita consumption of energy in Iran is 64 per cent above the average energy consumption in the world, and in the opinion of experts, about one-fourth of this consumed energy can be conserved. The waste of a large part of the energy in Iran, in addition to inflicting direct financial damages, causes environmental pollution. In fact, energy consumption in Iran compared to its population is very high. According to experts, Iran produces about 5.7 million barrels of oil per day, of which more than 3 million barrels per day are consumed and 2.4 million are exported. Regarding the level of energy consumption in Iran compared to other countries of the world, Nersi Qorban, an oil and energy expert, believes: National consumption, especially in the area of natural gas, is very high, and one can say that we use more natural gas than China and India with a combined population of over 2 billion people. Concerning oil consumption, as well, with consumption between 1.4 and 1.5 million barrels per day in contrast to China with 6 million barrels and India with 2.5 million barrels of oil consumption per day, it is very high. In other words, China with a population 14 times that [of Iran] consumes four times the amount of oil, and India with a population 13 times that of the Iranian population uses about twice the amount of oil that Iran consumes per day.

In any case, some experts believe that if energy consumption continues in this way, the final price of consumed energy in Iran, which is 18.7 billion dollars at the present time, will reach 40 billion dollars in the year 1400 [ 21 March 2021-20 March 2022]. But Abbas Maleki, the general manager of Pars Oil and Natural Gas Institute (Anstitu-e Naft va Gaz-e Pars) also said: In recent years, many changes have taken place in the area of the production and consumption of energy in countries, such that the Asian countries now have a great share of energy consumption in the world.

He continued: The prediction is that by 2020, China alone will consume energy equivalent to 8 million barrels of oil. This issue gives special importance to the Persian Gulf and Middle East region, which provides 65 per cent of the world's energy. But considering that Iran is not an advanced industrial country and the level of income is not very high, the reason for the high level of energy consumption in this country has attracted much attention to this important issue.

Hadi Zonuz, an economist, believes in this connection: The waste of energy in construction and housing, at the stages of both construction and operation, is very high. Iran has paid no attention to the steps taken by advanced industrial countries in the area of the insulation of buildings and the resulting use of less energy. In addition, the household appliances that are used in Iran consume a higher amount of energy than the international standards. The transportation fleet is very old and worn out, and as a result the energy waste in this sector is also very high.

Regarding why there is no necessary conservation in energy, considering the worrisome figures, Zonuz said: This is rooted in the price of energy in Iran. He continued: The fact is that the gap between the domestic prices and the world prices is very wide in the sense that we pay a great deal of hidden subsidy for energy, and this hidden subsidy in the 1990s, according to the World Bank estimates, was a figure over 90 billion dollars. Hence, we can see that energy in Iran is cheap and no one is punished for the high consumption of energy. The share of energy in the cost of production is also low. For this reason, neither our industries nor our households are accustomed to conserving energy.

The consumption of fuel not only in Iran but in the world is increasing such that 85 million barrels of oil are used per day in the world. This amount of oil is enough to fill 40 soccer stadiums.

The annual value of crude oil transacted in the world markets exceeds 1 trillion dollars and takes up an important part of the world economy.

According to this report, more than half the excavated oil in the world is converted to vehicle fuel. Since the major part of the chemical materials and plastics are obtained from refining oil, the change in the price of oil also affects the price of many raw materials.

The price of oil in the past decade has fluctuated very much. While the price of oil in 1999 had dropped to 10 dollars per barrel, the price last year reached about 70 dollars. In any case, the increase in the insatiability of the world for oil and fuel made the people of the world think about conservation, and in this connection Iran must also think essentially about conserving fuel, because at the present time half of the budget of the country is swallowed up by energy and also many do not know the value of this substance. In any case, the statement that "the age of cheap oil or fuel has come to an end" has become a slogan at this juncture in time and must be used as a model; in fact, we must remember that even though we are sitting on a seat of wealth, this wealth will end some day.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

More News in this Category