Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Iran looks to domestic production for fuel

|
|
 
  
Published: July 15, 2010 at 9:20 AM
Advertisement

ISFAHAN, Iran, July 15 (UPI) -- New production capacity in Iran could help meet domestic demands for aviation fuel in the wake of new sanctions, Iranian executives said in Isfahan.

British oil company BP announced last week it was halting the sale of aviation fuel for Iranian airlines in the face of unilateral economic sanctions passed in Washington in early July.

The European Union said last week that it was closing its airspace to most Iran Air flights after an audit revealed safety issues with Iran's passenger fleet.

Ali Dehqanian, the head of engineering services at the Isfahan Oil Refining Co., said Iran is producing more than 30 percent of its fuel needs through domestic efforts, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.

He said Iran could satisfy its aviation fuel needs through new fuel-production units that are nearly completed.

Outside of Iran, officials with Iran Air in Hamburg said it would "take some time" to figure out a way to compensate for the loss of sales from BP.

French energy company Total said it stopped selling fuel to Iran but it was unclear if that applied to activity outside the country. Royal Dutch Shell said it would honor its current contracts with the sanction-strapped country.

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The making of the Oscars The Chicago Auto Show The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China
Additional Energy Resources Stories
1 of 21
President Obama Signs Smuggling Prevention Act at White House
View Caption
fark
If we timewarped back by 2000 years, what job would you most qualified to do? No, you can't bring...
BAD: getting caught in a landslide while hiking. WORSE: getting struck by lightning while trying...
Weepy eyes, hot chix, Jersey Shore Ronnie and a guy with mini fishing reels stuck in his beard....
French roadbuilders find 21 German WWI soldiers...and 1 goat
Photoshop this crazy old coot in the cold
Anonymous ends the week by bringing down the CIA webpage. *golf clap*