![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2007\/05\/tehran-gaspump.jpg\" "\\"tehran-gaspump\\"")
TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran could scrap a plan to ration petrol that was expected to have a profound impact on the economy of OPEC’s number two oil producer, the head of parliament’s energy committee said on Sunday. <\/p>\nTEHRAN (AFP) – Iran could scrap a plan to ration petrol that was expected to have a profound impact on the economy of OPEC’s number two oil producer, the head of parliament’s energy committee said on Sunday. <\/p>\n
The plan, which aimed to reduce the colossal subsidies paid by the state to finance Iran’s frenzied petrol consumption, envisaged forcing consumers to pay a much higher sum for any purchases in excess of a rationed quota.<\/p>\n
Iran last Tuesday implemented an initial stage of the plan by raising pump prices by 25 percent and making consumers use smart cards to keep track of their petrol purchases. <\/p>\n
"In the past few days, the use of smart cards has yielded good results in preventing fuel smuggling and encouraging consumption control," said Kamal Daneshyar, the head of the energy committee which drew up the rationing plan. <\/p>\n
"So it has become likely that we will delay the petrol rationing or even scrap it," he said. <\/p>\n
Iran’s oil minister has said the plans for petrol rationing would be revealed on June 7 and Daneshyar’s comments appear to be the first time an Iranian official has floated scrapping the plan entirely. <\/p>\n
State subsidies have allowed Iranians to enjoy some of the cheapest petrol prices in the world, less than a comparable amount of mineral water. <\/p>\n
But they have also encouraged such consumption that the major oil producer ironically has to spend billions of dollars each year on importing refined oil from abroad. <\/p>\n
Another problem stems from smugglers who illegally take cheap petrol bought in Iran out of the country to neighbouring states where pump prices are far higher. <\/p>\n
There is a consensus in Iran the burdens on the budget created by the subsidies cannot continue but the government is also aware that Iranians have become very used over the years to unlimited cheap petrol. <\/p>\n
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