While “financial resources for the construction of Bandar Abbas’s petroleum facility have run out” and the CEO of Persian Gulf Refining Corp has announced that “only 32 percent of the refinery has been physically built,” right-wing media is now questioning “how Iran can possibly become self-sufficient in petroleum by the year 2011 or even export petroleum, as claimed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”  As such, Ahmadinejad’s claim that, “If sanctions are put on petroleum, we will produce it within a week or two,” is more of a joke.  Knowing that, senior Islamic Republic officials have placed petroleum at the tope of the list of items imported from abroad.

According to statistics announced by the Iranian customs last week, in 1388 more than 4.5 billion dollars worth of petroleum was imported by Iran, showing a 67 increase in value and a 154 percent increase in weight in comparison with the prior year.  The statistics placed petroleum at the top of the list of items imported by Iran.

Meanwhile, based on other official statistics released, Iranians used 22 billion and 961 million liters of petroleum last year, showing a 1 billion and 330 million decrease compared to the year before.  Economic experts are wondering why, despite lower consumption, Iran’s petroleum imports increased by 154 percent.

One oil analyst tells Rooz, “The only answer that can be found for that question is [Iran’s] effort to stock up on petroleum to prepare for unusual conditions, such as banning petroleum exports to Iran, which has begun with India.”  

Rumors indicate that senior regime officials have ordered for petroleum storage of three times the amount of monthly consumption.  The previous level was set at 1.5 times the amount of monthly consumption, but with Iran’s recent effort, the country has the capacity to withstand petroleum sanctions for three months.  

According to a report by Deutsche Welle, Dr. Fereydoun Khavand, economist and professor at Paris's René Descartes University dismissed Ahmadinejad’s claims about petroleum self-sufficiency and exporting it calling it a joke and noting that “In Iran, we have 9 oil refineries, in Abadan, Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Arak, Tabriz, Kermanshah, and Lavan island.  These refineries have tried to increase their production capacity of petroleum but have failed so far.”  

Dr. Khavand adds, “In the past decade, Iran’s daily refining capacity has increased only by about 300 thousand barrels per day.  Among the 9 refineries that I named, except for the two in Arak and Bandar Abbas, the other are more than thirty years old.  Their technology is not up-to-date and upgrading them requires huge amounts of investment.”