Paknejad made the remarks Wednesday on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting. Asked whether energy carriers would see price hikes, he said: “Fundamentally, no decision has been made to date on increasing energy carrier prices. This is a general rule; I emphasize that no decision has been taken in this regard so far.”

He stressed that fuel price decisions fall outside the Oil Ministry’s authority, adding that such matters must be handled at the government level and may require approvals from other branches of the state.

Paknejad outlined the ministry’s winter fuel preparations, noting that gas consumption in residential and commercial sectors naturally rises with colder weather. “Through our efforts, gas production has increased, and daily delivery to the network is up by about 6.7 million cubic meters,” he said. “Naturally, with this production boost, we must manage gas supply to industries and power plants.”

In that vein, diesel reserves at gas-fired power plants have been raised 130% from last year to more than 3.3 billion liters, he said. An additional 2.4 billion liters of diesel held by the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Co. serve as backup for power plants and other sectors.

“Thanks to God and the dedication of our colleagues, we are entering the cold season in very good shape,” Paknejad said. “Our goal is to face the fewest possible challenges in this area.”