Oil Min. Dismisses Alleged Poor Quality Home Produced Petrol

Berlin, July 14, IRNA – Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi dismissed the alleged poor quality of home-produced petrol and said the petrol Iran produces is of best quality in the region. Talking to IRNA on the sidelines of a one-day Conference on Energy Security of Europe, he vigorously rejected rumors that the substandard petrol produced in Iran is responsible for the air pollution in Tehran as well as rise in number of cancers and stressed that such claims were not true at all. Many doubts have spread as to the quality of the petrol produced in Iran, some claiming its formula is over pollutants for mixture of chemical components. Environmentalists say Iranian petrol is incompatible with engines of vehicles causing deaths by cancer skyrocketing in Iran. An air pollution organization official in Tehran, too, just recently admitted that some additives in the Iran-produced petrol’s formula will lead to growing number of cancers, leading some media to the conclusion that the Oil Ministry uses chemical components in producing petrol which may cause cancer. However, the oil minister said that the petrol produced in a number of Iranian refineries and consumed inside the country is among the best products in the region. He stressed that there have been changes in the quality of the domestically produced petroleum and ensured the public that claims put forward about this byproduct was not true at all. Responding to the claims by western governments on the adverse impact of sanctions on the Iranian oil and gas industry and fall in oil revenues, the minister said Iran does not welcome sanctions, but, the western governments imposing sanctions have to realize the fact that Iran is going to use them as a chance for development./end