SHANA - Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said the second phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery added 24 million liters of gasoline to the country�s daily production capacity, saying, �Securing the country�s self-sufficiency in gasoline production must be pursued in the auto-making industry.�

Addressing a ceremony to launch the second phase of Bandar Abbas Gas Condensate Refinery, also known as the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Bandar Abbas on Thursday, the official said, "Despite the fact that quality gasoline and gasoil are distributed in major cities and projects to improve the quality of such fuels are coming online one after the other in the country, controlling and managing petrol consumption is a vital issue for the country.�

Announcing that the third phase of the project, touted as the largest condensate refinery in the world, would come on-stream during winter, Mr. Zangeneh said Iran�s Euro-4 gasoline production stood at merely 3.4 million liters per day in 2013 which crossed 28 ml/d in 2017 and would reach 54 million liters per day this calendar year, increasing 14-fold.

Moreover, he added, the country�s total gasoline production capacity had risen from 59.5 ml/d to roughly 90 ml/d currently.

As the official added, the average gasoline consumption in the country in 2012 was 63.5 million liters, which in June of 2018 reached 83.5 million liters, and would increase even higher in the coming months. He put the rate of increased consumption at 8 to 9 percent annually.

Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh further said that Euro-4 gasoline and gasoil was being distributed in the country�s major cities.

He also announced the inauguration of the Hydrogen Unit of Tabriz Refinery with a daily production of 6 million liters of gasoil in August, adding the hydrogen purification unit of Bandar Abbas Refinery, with a daily production capacity of 12 million liters of Euro-4 gasoil, would be exploited in October this year; furthermore, inauguration of the hydrogen unit of Isfahan Refinery with the Euro 4 standard was on the agenda, he added.

Zangeneh also said that the Euro-4 petrol output of Lavan Refinery would also be enhanced by 2 million liters in the future.

Persian Gulf Star Refinery with 360,000 barrels per day of processing capacity allows Iran to convert gas condensate into value added items which would otherwise be exported with all the difficulties caused by US sanctions on Tehran in international markets.

?Referring ??to the comprehensive plan for SIRAF Refining Park (octogenic refineries), he said: "To complete this important project, with a total refining capacity of 480 thousand barrels per day, which will fed by gas condensate, we are considering selling its stocks to the public."