The government has obliged the Oil Ministry to supply the required fuel, in accordance with Euro 4 Fuel Standards for at least 20 percent of stations.

The government has commissioned the ministries of oil and energy to establish more Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations, based on the ratification of Transportation and Fuel Management Taskforce.
According to PIN, the ministries are obliged to establish CNG stations by observing the technical standards.

Cooperation
Other ministries such as Roads and Transportation as well as Agricultural Jihad, municipalities and other affiliated bodies are duty-bound to extend cooperation.
Also, municipalities and commissions of Article Five of the Law of Establishment of the High Council for Urbanization and Architecture should change the application of these lands and issue permits for the construction of CNG stations, particularly in public terminals and parking lots.
The government has also obliged the Oil Ministry to supply the required fuel in accordance with Euro 4 Fuel Standards for at least 20 percent of stations.
It is required to adopt policies to provide 80 percent of fuel stations with Euro 4 standards by October 2011.
The Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran has been charged with supervision over the measure.
Loans Offered
In related news, Abdolreza Amini, the head of Fuel Smart Card System, disclosed that special financial facilities in the form of five-year interest-free loans would be granted to those who establish new fuel stations.
Amini noted that 100 fuel stations should become operational in Tehran by March 2010.
“Organizations such as Tehran Municipality, Tehran Islamic City Council and Housing Ministry have been contacted to accelerate the trend of ceding lands for the purpose,“ he said, adding that some 700 single-nozzle pumps are to be converted to double-nozzle ones.
Amini noted that equipment and facilities would be given to pump manufacturers and contractors gradually.

Severe Shortage
Managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) also said that many fuel stations have been established in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and 12 old stations halted operations.
Noureddin Shahnazizadeh added that the shortage of fuel stations in Tehran is very severe.
Highlighting that as per the law, the state sector is not allowed to establish fuel stations, the official said the private sector is not interested due to many reasons, particularly the skyrocketing price of land.
“The construction of fuel stations is in line with extension of urban services,“ he said, arguing that the responsibility does not solely lie with NIORDC.

Bi-Fuel Cars
Meanwhile, Fuel Optimization Organization Managing Director Abbas Kazemi said the process of equipping cars with bi-fuel systems had been accelerated, predicting that the number of bi-fuel cars would soar to 3.25 million.
Iran, the Middle East’s biggest carmaker, would stop producing cars that only run on gasoline. Some cars in Iran, which have the world’s second largest oil and gas reserves, run on both gasoline and CNG, but most only use gasoline. It is one of the main reasons for the high gasoline consumption and demand for more CNG stations.
Industries and Mines Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian also said all cars would eventually be equipped with bi-fuel systems.
Iran produces a wide range of light and heavy vehicles. The biggest carmaker is Iran Khodro, which has joint ventures with foreign firms such as France’s Renault and China’s Chery Automobile Co. It also produces Peugeot models.
Economists say heavy subsidies have encouraged wastage of oil resources. But some believe that raising prices, rather than setting gasoline quotas, will be a more efficient way of curbing consumption.

Currently, the capacity of the country’s Internet bandwidth is about 12,000 mega bits and efforts for expanding it to 15,000 mega bits are being followed up rapidly, an Iranian official said.
“Widespread efforts, aimed at expanding the bandwidth, are underway to use indigenous capacities for increasing the Internet bandwidth of the country to more than 3,000 mega bits in the near future,“ Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdolmajid Riazi told the Persian daily Farhang-e Ashti.
Referring to discussions over sanctions on the Internet, he said, “The probability of such a development is quite low but it possibility exists. Nevertheless, preparations have been made or are underway to exploit domestic networks.“
Riazi noted that it is hardly probable that the telephone or Internet communications between countries or their local networks could face sanctions.
“No country faced telephone sanctions under the worst circumstances in the past. Of course, the local network of the country will stay active if such a problem occurs,“ he said.
The deputy minister noted that the national Internet network covers all local areas and includes multiple structures.
“The usage of a supporting network is providing stable and widespread connection between the provinces of Iran,“ he said.

Iran’s ambassador in Islamabad has clarified that if India and Pakistan only seek their own national interests, they should realize Iran does not need to sell gas to them as much as they need Iranian gas.
Mashallah Shakeri also told Fars News Agency that Pakistan’s economic relations with Iran are not as wide as its political ties.
“The infrastructures between the two countries are very old and dilapidated,“ he said.
The envoy noted that the Iranian private sector does not have considerable relations with its Pak counterpart.
“Pakistan can access promising markets in Iran’s western borders through Iranian routes,“ he said.
On inviting another country instead of India to take part in the Peace Pipeline project, Shakeri said Iran has remained committed to the project so far.
“We believe that the project should be materialized with the participation of Iran, India and Pakistan.“
“In case a country retracts, conditions will change.“

Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said on Tuesday Iran and Oman will pursue negotiations next week to follow up the gas deal.
Nozari held talks with a number of senior Omani officials, including his counterpart and the country’s ministers of industry and foreign affairs, on issues of mutual interest.
Leading an Iranian delegation to Oman, Nozari held talks with the Omani officials on energy cooperation and development of oil and gas fields as well as export of gas to Oman, IRNA said.
During his meetings, Nozari elaborated on Iran’s oil and gas potentials as well as opportunities for boosting mutual cooperation.
The two sides agreed to set up a technical committee in Tehran to follow up the process of cooperation for development of oil and gas fields.
“A working group will be set up and the two sides will introduce some representative companies to develop the joint gas field.
This cooperation will lead to selling gas to the Omani side,“ he said.
Asked if Iran would use an Omani liquefied natural gas plant to produce LNG in future, Nozari said, “The two sides will discuss it later.
First we should transfer the gas to Oman and then we’ll decide about the portion that will be used to produce LNG.“
Omani experts will travel to Iran next week to continue talks.

Arak Airport will be privatized in less than three weeks.
Stating the above to Mehr News Agency, Head of State Airports Company Ahmad Momeni-Rokh said the airport will cede its shares to the private sector by September 21.
According to him, Arak is the second airport of the country after Ramsar which will be privatized under the general policies of Article 44 in the Constitution which seeks large-scale privatization of state sector.
Privatization of state enterprises, particularly those in the roads and transportation sector, has been high on the agenda of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government since March.
Airports in Iran are state-run but following the privatization of Ramsar Airport in Mazandaran province, ground has been paved for handing over the management of other airports to private enterprises.
The State Airports Company has been in talks with a domestic investor to upgrade Arak Airport to international standards. Currently, Arak Airport is considered among the least busy in the country.
Under the deal, all operations at the airport, with the exception of flight safety, security, control and overall management, will be transferred to the private sector. Some 20 airports will be privatized in the future.

A consortium consisting of Rail Rocket Italy and the Iranian company Shahid Kolahduz are building 220 passenger train carriages for the Railroad of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RAJA).
According to Borna News, the wagons will be delivered to Iran’s railroad company within a period of not later than 50 months.
In addition to the contract, Shahid Kolahduz, an industrial complex affiliated to the Ministry of Defense, will assemble 120 other wagons for the railroad company.
A German company has undertaken to produce in Iran the buggies required for the 220 train coaches ordered by the Ministry of Roads and Transportation. Meanwhile, India is likely to help Iran in modernization and expansion of its rail network.
Responding to a request from the Iran government, Railway board chairman K.C. Jena along with two senior officers held discussions with the Iranian railway officials.
Meanwhile, Russia’s rail monopoly is developing a trilateral project with Azerbaijan and Iran to build a direct rail link between Russia and Iran.
Jointly with Azerbaijan, Russian Railways is developing a trilateral project to build a railroad to connect Qazvin, Rasht and Astara, which is aimed at establishing a direct railway route between Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran and attract new cargoes to the International North-South Transport Corridor.
Astara is on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, where the new tracks would connect to the existing Azeri and Russian networks.
RZD signed its first contract with Iran’s railways in late March 2008 to upgrade a 46km railroad between Tabriz and Azarshahr. The parties are also considering involving RZD in other infrastructure projects in Iran.

New data from the US Energy Information Administration indicates that with $816 Iran ranks 10th among the 13 OPEC members in per capita oil income.
Iran also had the third largest total oil income in the first half of 2008, behind Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran’s per capita oil income for the first six month of 2008 was $816, about one third of the average per capita oil income of $2,172 among OPEC members.
Qatar, with a per capita oil income of $28,136, is at the top of the OPEC member list followed by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, with per capita oil incomes of $20,807 and $13,208 respectively.
The per capita oil income of the other OPEC members in the first half of 2008 were: Saudi Arabia, $6,847; Libya, 6,007; Angola, $3,726; Venezuela, $1,553; Algeria, $1,383; Iraq, $1,382; Iran, $816; Ecuador, $515; Nigeria, $333; and Indonesia, $16.
The total oil income of Iran in the first half of 2008 was $54 billion, only $3 billion shy of its oil income for the entire 2007.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with total oil incomes of $192 billion and $61 billion respectively, were ahead of Iran in the rankings.
Iran’s daily oil exports stand at 2.5 million bpd, giving it an oil income per day of $300 million. Iran is exporting 2.5 million barrels per day at an average price per barrel of $120. This translates into $300 million per day of oil income for OPEC’s second largest crude producer.
Austria, Greece, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Japan, India, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Morocco are the main buyers of Iranian crude.

Iran and Egypt held a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss the balance of trade between the two countries.
The head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran’s Trade Balance Committee told IRNA that the meeting aimed to introduce Egypt’s trade capabilities, and evaluate bilateral political and economic relations among others.
“Currently, Iran has a negative trade balance with Egypt due to the import of tobacco, steel bars, carbon and orange,“ Mohammad Mousavi Mirkalaei added.
He hoped that the trade balance would become positive once traders in the Islamic Republic get familiar with Egypt’s trade potentials.
Iran and Egypt have agreed to restore full diplomatic relations. Tehran severed ties with Cairo in 1980 in protest at Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel signed two years earlier. Relations between the two countries reached a low point in the 1980s, but have been steadily improving since. Trade links improved during the 1990s.

Trade between Iran and Turkey reached $6.1 billion in the first seven months of the year 2008, indicating an increase of 37 percent compared to the corresponding period last year, ISNA wrote.
According to the statistics released by Turkey State Statistics Institute, the rapid growth in the volume of Tehran-Ankara trade is in line with the two countries’ leaders determination to further boost economic relations.
Turkey’s exports to Iran in the same period stood at $1.175 billion, showing an increase of 67.1 percent compared to the previous year, while the country’s imports from the Islamic Republic in that period reached $4.946 billion, indicating a rise of 31.7 percent compared to the preceding year.
Islamic Republic of Iran ranked seventh in terms of Turkey’s imports but 19th in terms of exports during the first seven months of 2008.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Iran and Turkey have taken great strides to develop cooperation.
Talking to the news section of TV channels on Tuesday, Erdogan expressed pleasure with his government foreign policy performance during the month of August marking enhanced diplomatic ties with Iran.
Referring to the latest visit of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Turkey, Erdogan said that the two countries are determined to touch $20 billion annual trade by 2011.

A plan to establish National Development Fund is currently under scrutiny at the State Expediency Council, said the minister of finance and economic affairs.
Shamseddin Hosseini told Fars News Agency that once the plan is approved, the Oil Stabilization Fund (OSF) would become the National Development Fund.
Formed in 2000, the Oil Stabilization Fund is based on the necessity of eliminating or reducing public expenditures associated with the fluctuating crude oil prices in world markets.
Hosseini said OSF is an account which does not have any statute but the proposed National Development Fund will have a legal structure.
On the notification of the general policies of the fifth five-year economic development plan (2010-2015), he said the policies are still being discussed at the State Expediency Council and have not been notified to the government yet.