Mohammad Bahrami said smart and diverse policies are needed to manage fuel resources and that authorities should move toward alternative fuels. He stressed the need for closer coordination among relevant agencies to boost production capacity and improve fuel quality.

“Diversifying the energy mix is one of the measures envisaged in the Seventh Development Plan, and the government should pursue it,” Bahrami said. He added that the approach could help offset part of the gasoline shortfall while reducing fuel consumption.

Bahrami said the main solution, however, is better consumption management and improved energy efficiency. He noted that when vehicles with significantly higher fuel consumption than foreign models are provided to the public, the government must also deal with the resulting impact on fuel demand.

Iran’s heavy reliance on gasoline for transportation is a major constraint on efforts to curb fuel consumption, Bahrami said. To address the imbalance, he called for alternative transportation fuels to be seriously placed on the policy agenda alongside gasoline.