In the four weeks since the new prices took effect December 19, daily gasoline sales have average 57.2 million liters. That compares with an average of 63.0 million litersa per day in the period from Now Ruz until the price hike.
Here are the daily average sales for the four weeks before and four weeks since prices were raised. The figures come from the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Co., the sole legal purveyor of gasoline in the country.
-4 64.8
-3 59.7
-2 58.2
-1 57.5
+1 63.0
+2 57.1
+3 55.4
+4 53.2
The figures show a drop in sales every week—except, notably, for the week after the price was jacked up.
With just two hours’ public notice, prices were boosted at 12:01 a.m., December 19.
Before the change, drivers got 16 gallons a month at $0.365 a gallon and unlimited quantities at $1.46 a gallon. After the change, drivers got 13 gallons a month at $1.46 per gallon and unlimited amounts at $2.55. The typical driver now pays an average of about $2 a gallon, less if he drives less, more if he drives more.
Iran previously imported about one-third of its gasoline, prompting the US Congress last summer to approve sanctions on foreign firms that sell gasoline to Iran. Iran immediately directed some of its petrochemical plants to begin producing gasoline, albeit inefficiently.
Iran announced in September that it had ceased importing gasoline and there have been no reports from abroad of any gasoline sales to Iran since then, so the much-promoted sanctions seem to have had none of the impact intended by the US Congress.
However, the resort to petrochemical plants has reduced the output of petrochemicals and has reportedly produced low quality gasoline that is dramatically feeding air pollution and perhaps damaging auto engines.
Oil Minister Masud Mir-Kazemi said Sunday that Iran would begin adding new refinery capacity for gasoline in February and would be producing all the gasoline it needs without resort to the petrochemical plants by Now Ruz 2012.
But other officials have claimed that refining capacity has been added in past months and few analysts believe the refinery construction program is moving fast enough to produce all Iran needs as quickly as Mir-Kazemi asserted.
