The government has in recent months imported gasoline both in cash and in exchange for crude and mazut.

TEHRAN, March 5--A senior Oil Ministry official said here on Saturday that gasoline consumption will exceed 80 million liters per day with the approach of the new Iranian year, stressing that the required fuel is now being purchased by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
According to ISNA, Mohammad Aqaei Tabrizi, deputy oil minister for refining and distributing oil derivatives affairs, told reporters that there is no room for concern as far as gasoline supply is concerned. “We have managed to stockpile adequate supplies and are purchasing the rest of our requirements from other countries,“ he said.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh confirmed last week that concerns about a possible gasoline shortage are virtually over, stressing that the issue of fuel rationing has been dropped from the government’s agenda.
Gasoline coupons were published to be used in times of emergency, but the parliament opposed fuel rationing while studying the budget bill for the fiscal year to March 2006.
Iran imports gasoline from several sources, including China, India and Brazil. The government announced earlier it would spend $475 million in the coming weeks on importing petrol.
The government has in recent months imported gasoline both in cash and in exchange for crude and mazut.
Iran had to purchase expensive gasoline in recent months due to high international gasoline prices triggered by the upsurge in demand for petrol in the United States.

TEHRAN, March 5--A senior Commerce Ministry official said here on Saturday that the proposed merger of the Commerce Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance would be logical step, stressing that the government must move further towards policymaking and supervision rather than executive operations.
Shamsoddin Hosseini, the Commerce Ministry’s director general for economic studies, told ILNA that the two ministries do virtually similar jobs--what he said would make their merger inevitable.
“The merger is in the best interest of the national economy and could help bring greater harmony to financial and trade policies,“ he said, adding that extensive reforms the two ministries have undergone in recent years have paved the way for the groundbreaking merger.
There are also growing talk on the possible merger of the ministries of oil and energy.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh said last month that the ministries of oil and energy must inevitably merge, calling for this to become a reality before President Khatami’s second and last term ends in June.
“It would be most logical to merge the two ministries before the next government takes office,“ he said, adding that the incoming administration would have the best opportunity to organize the energy sector through the new ministry.
The minister, however, declined to comment on the possible name of the new ministry, stressing that the government has not yet made a decision on this.

Mobile phone users will increase from 2.3m to 4.3m within the next year, with the introduction of pre-paid SIM cards.

TEHRAN, March 5--Managing director of Rafsanjan Industrial Complex announced here Saturday that distribution of pre-paid SIM cards will begin from next month.
According to ISNA, Hossein Bahram predicted that over 500,000 applicants will apply to purchase pre-paid SIM cards.
He hoped that the company, which is one of domestic operator of the project, will be able to deliver the pre-paid SIM cards in due course in its initial stage in Tehran.
Bahram added that company’s staff is working round-the-clock to meet the obligations.
Earlier, the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) said that its mobile phone users will increase from 2.3m to 4.3m within the next year, with the introduction of pre-paid SIM cards.
The TCI awarded the contract to a consortium led by Rafsanjan Industrial Complex and Sweden’s Tele2, with Ericsson providing the necessary equipment.
Meanwhile, a senior TCI official, in an interview with ISNA, ruled out any possibility of filing a compensation claim against Rafsanjan Industrial Complex because of its delay.
“Implementation of a national project by a capable domestic complex is the most important issue,“ head of TCI’s Board of Directors, Massoud Moqaddas, emphasized.
The official noted that TCI has fully supported the project.
However, despite efforts made by private operator, the project could not meet the deadline, Moqaddas stated.

TEHRAN, March 5--A capital market expert said here on Saturday that lowering indices at the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) would provide investors a golden opportunity to buy shares, stressing that the present market situation is not worrisome.
Gholamreza Eslami-Bigdeli told ISNA that those concerned about the results of the upcoming presidential election and its impact on the stock market have to consider the very fact that the next president would not forget about the three million investors in the stock market. “The incoming president would have to take into account (the interests of) three million people who have invested in the stock market,“ he said.
The expert further noted that the stock market sees huge fluctuations at the end and the beginning of the year, adding that this is not exclusive to TSE and happens in all major international stock markets as well.
“The stock market must be so robust that if most of the investors are willing to sell their shares, the prices do not fall drastically,“ he said, adding that the monetary and capital markets have to join hands to settle this problem.
“Lowering prices should not scare investors in light of the fact that some shares have already gone up to extraordinary levels and have to be moderated,“ he said, adding that the fall in TSE indices would not last long.
Amid increasing concerns about the rapidly falling indices at Tehran Stock Market, the TSE secretary general expressed hope earlier this month that the capital market would grow by 10-fold in the next five years.
Hossein Abdeh-Tabrizi said he anticipated a great leap forward in efforts to improve the national capital market within the next two years.
Many small investors fear that they would lose their capital in the wake of a sudden collapse of the market. Observers, however, believe that the government would prevent any such eventuality.

Iran exported 4.854 million tons of various petrochemical products worth $1.506 billion in the first 11 months of the current year.

TEHRAN, March 5--Managing director of Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company has said that the target earnings from petrochemical exports was set at $1.8 billion in the current Iranian year (to end on March 20), of which only $1.7 billion has been achieved.
Mohammad Ehtiati told Petroenergy Information Network that the delay in inaugurating some petrochemical projects is the main factor for the failure to realize the projected revenues.
Iran Petrochemical Commerce Company exported 4.854 million tons of various petrochemical products worth $1.506 billion in the first 11 months of the current year.
Propane gas topped the list of exported petrochemicals at more than 843,228 tons worth $293.694 million followed by naphtha at 624,887 tons worth $228.14 million.
During the same period, 69 varieties of petrochemicals were exported with methanol ranking first in terms of weight at 846,060 tons and ABS polymer grade 740 ranking the lowest with 10 tons.

TEHRAN, March 5--The upcoming OPEC meeting in Isfahan, central Iran, will focus on setting a production ceiling, changing its price range and determining the composition of the organization’s oil basket, Petroenergy Information Network reported.
Given the increased crude inventory, changing season and possible reduction in seasonal demand, OPEC members will probably review the organization’s production ceiling.
Another issue to be possibly brought up is the election of the organization’s next secretary general which will depend on a consensus among all members.
In recent months, experts have been mulling the composition of OPEC basket and price range of OPEC and are currently reviewing the best means of achieving this.

TEHRAN, March 5--Iran’s customs chief here on Saturday criticized the government for exploiting it as a source of income, stressing that customs departments in other countries are not responsible for providing state revenues.
Massoud Karbasian told ISNA that Iran’s Customs Administration, apart from its main responsibility, has to cover many more areas, including border malls, cooperatives for border residents, free trade zones, etc.
He said the Customs Administration’s revenues toped 23 trillion rials during March 2004-2005, stressing that the budget for the year to March 2006 has stipulated that the figure must increase to 35 trillion rials.
“The Customs Administration has only 5,700 employees, but is expected to make huge contribution to providing national revenues,“ he said, adding that some 90 percent of the global trade is conducted in compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s rules and regulations while Iran still remains outside this framework.
He called for greater dissemination of information among top government officials regarding the advantages of joining the WTO, stressing that the initiative would not destroy the national economy because the same has not happened to 146 member-countries.
Karbasian said that 38 border malls are operating in the country, adding that they managed to export $3.9 million worth of goods during March-December 2004.
Major non-oil export items in the period included metals and steel (9.5 percent of the total), pistachios (8.7 percent), petrochemicals (8.3 percent), Persian carpets (7.6 percent), gas condensates (5.8 percent), industrial goods (3.6 percent) and machinery (1.8 percent).

TEHRAN, March 5--Production from Aghajari oilfield has increased by 1.2 billion barrels following the injection of gases into the wells, Petroenergy Information Network reported.
The National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company reported that 20,000 billion cu. ft. (566,412 million cu. m.) of natural gas from South Pars gas field has been injected into Aghajari field.
The field is currently pumping 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day and this figure is set to decline due to continued exploitation.
Maximum production from the field stood at one million barrels a day in 1974 and total production from the field has reached about 8.8 billion barrels.
Gas injection project includes geophysical studies, 3-D seismography and detailed engineering.
Logistics, construction and installation operations of the project have progressed 93.57 percent and 42.66 percent, respectively.
Aghajari oil field is located 90 km southeast of Ahvaz in the Omidiyeh region and includes Asmari and Bangestan formations.

TEHRAN, March 5--Trade between Iran and Afghanistan has totaled $260 million in the past two years, said the minister of economic affairs and finance here on Saturday, stressing that Tehran and Kabul have managed to boost economic interaction to a great extent in the frameworks of Iran’s assistances to that country’s reconstruction drive.
According to ILNA, Seyyed Safdar Hosseini, who was inaugurating the First Iran-Afghanistan Economic Commission meeting, stressed that Iran has tried its best to play a crucial role in rehabilitating postwar economic, social and cultural infrastructure in the war-ravaged country.
“Major projects including the Dogharoun-Herat Road and Milak Bridge as well as several power supply, agriculture, development, telecommunication, health, vocational and cultural projects have so far been implemented in Afghanistan by Iranian firms,“ he said, adding that Iran is resolved to consolidate its brotherly bonds with the Afghan nation.
The minister further noted that the two governments have agreed to promote investment by industrialists from the two countries.
Afghanistan needs to build at least 500,000 housing units per annum, which experts say would provide Iranian construction firms with a good opportunity to partake in projects in the war-torn country.
Chinese construction companies are already there and would capture Afghanistan’s construction market if Iranian private sector does not expedite efforts to participate in that country’s housing projects.
Afghan officials are reportedly willing to work with Iranian companies more than European firms given the proximity between the two countries and far lower transportation costs.
Iran plans to construct a cement factory in the war-torn country.
Several joint ventures are underway in Afghanistan in collaboration with Iranian contractors.
This is while feasibility studies are being conducted on a number of other projects including those in cement, development and power sectors in the framework of Iran’s half-a-billion-dollar commitment for Afghan reconstruction.
Iran’s exports to Afghanistan mainly include foodstuff, garments, carpets and construction materials.