Iran petrol price hikes caused consumption to fall by 26%: Oil Ministry

Iran’s implementation of fuel price hikes last year helped curb rampant use of petrol in the country by more than a fourth, says an Oil Ministry official.

Shahram Rezayi, a senior official at NIOPDC, the government company in charge of fuel distribution, said on Wednesday that the total fuel consumption in Iran of petrol had decreased to 70 million liters per day in early March, down from 95 million liters consumed in early November when the government moved to announce price hikes.

Rezayi said the petrol consumption figure recorded between late February and early March was also 10 percent lower than what had been recorded over a 12-day period a month ago.

The government said in November while announcing the fuel price hikes that the measure was necessary to keep the country afloat amid sanctions that seek to make Iran dependent on fuel imports.

The price hikes sparked widespread protests in Iran and even caused the government to roll out a new cash handout scheme that it said would be funded by revenues derived from price hikes.

SS