TEHRAN, Oct. 26--A senior oil industry official said the government would have to ration petrol should the parliament reject the bill to approve $1.3 billion for gasoline imports.
Hossein Kashefi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, further said that national refineries will not be able to produce more than 40 million liters of gasoline per day, even if they produce at full capacity, since the total consumption stands at 63 million liters per day. Some nine refineries produce gasoline in Iran.
The official further noted that if the parliament does not approve the required funds, the government will not be able to meet domestic demand for fuel, which he said would make gasoline rationing a necessity.
"People will have to queue for petrol in nationwide filling stations, which will work one shift a day due to possible shortage of gasoline," he said, adding that the initiative would have negative psychological impact on the society.
He, however, said it is up to the parliament to decide whether or not to approve funds for petrol import.
The Seventh Parliament contends that the government does not need more than $800 million for gasoline imports. The government says the amount is insufficient and that the demand of $1.3 billion could also be inadequate if international petrol prices and domestic consumption continue to rise.
The proposal to increase gasoline prices to check excessive consumption has faced new challenges in recent weeks as the parliament announced it is ready to approve funds for petrol imports, but did not specify the amount.
This is while lawmakers and some conservative economists insist that the government must not be allowed to withdraw money from the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund for gasoline imports despite repeated calls by Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh for urgent withdrawal of $1.3 billion for the purpose.
Proponents of gasoline price hike contend that the government is paying a considerable portion of oil revenues to the people in the form of fuel subsidies, whereas it has failed to address issues such as the excessive consumption of fuel, social injustice as a result of granting subsidies, air pollution and fuel smuggling.

TEHRAN, Oct. 26--Privatization drive suffered a setback following the unsuccessful sales of the shares of two state companies which led to criticisms by experts about the performance of the Privatization Organization.
Managing director of the organization, Mir Ali Ashraf Pouri-Hosseini on Tuesday defended his organization's record and blamed the continuing debate over Iran nuclear dossier and the tough stance of western states against Tehran as the main factors for the lack of enthusiasm among investors to buy shares of the two state companies. Apprehensions of some analysts about the fate of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities and where this episode will lead to have created reservations among major investors about buying shares, contended the official.
According to analysts, September and October are recession period for the stock market, noted Pouri-Hosseini, adding that over 500 billion rials worth of shares, which were sold during the period, indicates the inappropriate timing of the sales, ISNA reported.
"Almost 300 companies are in line for privatization and the organization has to cede them to private sector by the end of the Third Five-Year Development Plan (2000-2005) or just in five to six months," he stressed. To meet this deadline, the organization should offer shares of these companies without limit, he said.

The project to manufacture carbon nanotubes is underway at Iran's Oil Industry Research Center. The high-tech project, which began three years ago, aims at developing nanotechnology in the hydrocarbon resource-rich Iran.
Carbon nanotubes are molecular cylinders that are rapidly extending our ability to manufacture molecular-scale devices.
Nanotechnology jumpstarts a new industrial revolution with molecular-sized structures as complex as the human cell and 100 times stronger than steel.
The new technology transforms everyday products and the way they are made by manipulating atoms so that materials can be shrunk, strengthened and lightened all at once.
To date only modest nanotech-based products--such as stain-resistant fabrics and fresh food packaging--have entered the market, but some scientists predict nanotechnology will eventually be the only game in town.
Scientists believe nanotechnology can be used to produce environment-friendly fuels, which could turn into next generation alternatives to fossil energy-carriers.
British scientists have used nanotechnology to produce a modified version of hydrogen fuel, which does not cause environmental hazards. They also found out that a hydrogen-fueled engine does not contribute to the production of greenhouse gasses and has little impact on global warming.
Nanotechnology has attracted scientists' attention across the globe in the past 10 years.
Iran, as the holder of world's largest gas reserves second only to Russia and the second largest oil producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is also planning to employ nanotechnology in its attempt to improve oil and gas production techniques and produce downstream products. The Second Conference of Nanotechnology in Oil Industry and relevant workshops was held in Tehran last month to find the best possible ways to develop nanotechnology in the country.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and a number of Iranian and foreign researchers and scientists attended the conference, in which First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said a special committee has been set up at the Presidential Office to help develop research on nanotechnology in Iran.
He said the use of nanotechnology is a must not only for Iran, but also for all other countries of this resource-rich region.
"Nanotechnology can help save up to three billion dollars in fuel consumption," he said, adding that the 300-million-strong region where Iran is located is in dire need of modern technology.

TEHRAN, Oct. 26--Iran will increase its natural gas production capacity from 130 billion cu. m. per year to 300 billion cu. m. within the next 10 years and the figure is expected to hit 400 billion cu. m. in 20 years, shana.ir said.
Announcing this, Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian, deputy oil minister for international affairs said at a conference on 'Energy Transfer in Asia, Europe; Challenges and Prospect' in Brussels, Belgium that Iran is also planning to boost crude output from the current 4.2 million barrels per day to six million barrels a day within the next 10 years.
He said in the past seven years more than $46 billion have been invested in Iran's oil and gas industry, 65 percent of which came from foreign investment, adding, "We are planning to invest about $100 billion in oil and gas industries by 2015."
The official noted that Iran has made plans to export liquefied natural gas to China, India, Japan, East Asia and Europe.
"We are currently exporting gas to Turkey and exports to Armenia, Nakhichevan and the United Arab Emirates will begin soon," he noted.
The deputy minister said European countries' dependence on natural gas will increase in coming decades and in the next 25 years, European states are expected to meet 65 percent of their natural gas from imports.
The official added that Iran, which is a neighbor to Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States and the Caucasus, is also capable of meeting the needs of markets with exceptional demand such as Pakistan, India, China and even Japan.
Nejad-Hosseinian stated that transferring Caspian oil to Persian Gulf via Iran was a vital projects that would lead to bolstering regional cooperation, but 'interference of countries from outside the region that follow political goals will result in an economic catastrophe'.
He mentioned financial requirements for gas transfer projects, low price of gas, the need to predetermined customers, high value of gas transfer, passage through various countries and political risks in every country as major challenges facing gas transfer projects.
He noted that cooperation among Caspian littoral states will benefit all those countries, noting, "Stability and lack of political turmoil are major factors for the conclusion of natural gas contracts."
The conference on 'energy transfer in Asia, Europe; challenges and prospect' was held in Brussels for two days and was attended by representatives from Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, and Kazakhstan as well as directors and representatives of major oil companies.