Some 30m liters of oil products being smuggled per day

Some 30m liters of oil products being smuggled per day

TEHRAN - The speaker of the Iranian parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf has said that 25 to 30 million liters of oil products are smuggled out of the country daily, which is undoubtedly organized.

Speaking during today's public session of the Parliament which was going on to review the report of the Parliament's energy commission regarding power outages in the cold season, he stated that this summer there was an imbalance of over 15,000 megawatts in energy consumption, and a report from the research center of the Parliament indicates that production and consequently the growth of the industrial sector in the summer of this year decreased by 1.5 percent, which means losses for producers and the government.

Qalibaf added that last winter there was an imbalance of about 250 million cubic meters per day in the natural gas sector, which led us to shut down industries as a solution while the gas distribution network experienced pressure drops.

He stated that the damages are not limited to the domestic sector, but the country has also suffered losses internationally.

"In the past, when our enemies threatened us, we would say we would cut off our oil from you, and this was our leverage of threat. But what leverage do we have today?", he said, noting "Even if we are not under sanctions, our situation is clear, hence the imbalance is damaging for the country, and we must pay attention to it."

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source: tehrantimes.com