Iran to Halt Gasoline Imports

I at first found this quite curious. Iran is the second largest producer of crude oil. However the article states that Iran has very limited refining capacity. Iran actually only produces and refines 40% of the gas it consumes(about the same percentage the US does). The Iranian Parliament citing budget constraints cut the budget for gas imports from $4 billion to around $2.5 billion. Sparking fears of rationing or price hikes.



I wonder if this could play a part in the current crisis around Iran's nuclear program. I mean Iran is actually as dependent on imports as much as the US is and is evidently facing budget problems. So if this situation threatens to blow the price of cude would sky rocket crippling the Iranian economy.

[edit on 6-24-2006 by worldwatcher]

I think your intro paragraph should be written a little more professionaly, but I voted yes anyways because it is definetly interesting news. Why would Iran put themselves in that kind of a vulnerable situation? They may have the oil, but having no refining capacity would leave them vulnerable to sanctions on gasoline exports to the country, setting them back as much as several years if such a move were to come to pass.

They should begin construction of refineries within a reasonable range of their wells to make transportation less of an issue.

Most countries keep their refineries close to coastal ports because all of their crude enters their borders from across the water. Iran does not have that issue because they produce their crude within their borders, so they would only need their refineries in a reasonable location relative to the majority of their wells.

a friend of mine in Iran had told me a few months after our prices started shooting up that they only pay less then a dollar a gallon anyway so it won't be like they will be affected very badly as we are now paying over 3.00 a gal here in the US and even more in Canada and Europe.


Pie

However Pieman, I do not suppose that their currency is quite as valuable as our, so even that less than a dollar price may just be equivelant, if not higher effect on their income as we here in the States. Or not whatever. I just think it was the worst move that they decided not to build the sufficient refining capacity over their recent years.