Speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Owji said that three projects are ready for exploitation in Easten Azerbaijan Province including a 222- kilometer pipeline for conveying oil products from Tabriz to Oromyyeh, improving the quality of gasoil produced at Tabriz oil refinery and its sulphur recycling unit project.  

“Tabriz refinery’s improving gasoil quality project will increase the country’s euro-5 gasoil production capacity by 5 million liters per day”, the petroleum minister said, adding the project will be a considerable contribution to improvement of environmental situation and deterring air pollution.  

Tabriz-Oromyyeh and Bandar Abass- Rafsanjan- Sirjan oil products transfer pipelines, as part of a general plan for construction of 1000 km pipeline this year, will facilitate oil product conveying from oil refineries to consumption destinations like power plants, industries, oil products storage facilities and so on, he said.

currently about 16 to 17 thousand tanker trucks are involved in carrying oil products on roads across the country, the petroleum minister said, adding carrying oil products through pipelines will decrease tanker trucks movements and their related accidents while at the same time will improve the quality of air, will lessen the cost of transportation as well as preventing road quality deterioration.   

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said that under the related laws, 90 to 95 percent of fueling at gas stations should be done by using personal fuel cards which stands at around 70 percent currently.  

The petroleum minister pointed to the creation of a system in the country to reduce fuel smuggling and said: At first, this system will be used on a trial basis, and based on it, the allocation of oil and gas for trucks and inter-city buses will be done online.

According to Owji, gasoil burning vehicles will receive their fuel rations depending on the distance they travel (allocating gasoil based on online documents) which will play an important role in gasoil smuggling prevention.