Speaking on Monday, Nov. 2, at a meeting of the Article 8
Working Group, Aref said the country faced gas supply constraints due to
longstanding supply-demand imbalances and damage caused by the recent war.
He stressed that public cooperation was essential to
managing consumption during the cold season and warned that consumers exceeding
prescribed consumption limits would face higher gas bills.
Aref described the establishment of the Article 8 Working
Group as an important government decision, noting that decisions concerning
petroleum products were among the country's most complex policy issues. He said
past failures to account for these complexities, including even minor fuel
price adjustments, had imposed unnecessary costs on the country.
The working group's objective is to build consensus on
decisions related to petroleum products, he said, adding that the government's
broader approach was to secure agreement among relevant stakeholders before
implementing policy measures.
Aref said President Masoud Pezeshkian's approach to
structural reforms was based on gradual implementation and assessment of each
stage before proceeding to the next. He described structural reforms as
essential to the country's future and said fuel-sector reforms that had long
been considered major policy goals were now being implemented.
The vice president also emphasized the importance of
explaining economic decisions to the public through the media, both before and
after their implementation. He attributed recent queues at Tehran fuel stations
partly to insufficient public awareness of the decisions behind the changes.
He acknowledged that reforms could face resistance from
stakeholders whose unlawful interests were affected, but said the government's
strategy was to ensure that decisions benefited the public. Resources freed up
through structural reforms, he added, should be directed toward improving
livelihoods, particularly for vulnerable groups.
At the meeting, Mohammad Sadegh Azimifar, managing director
of the National Iranian Oil Products Refining and Distribution Company,
presented a report on the implementation of a plan to reorganize emergency fuel
cards at filling stations.
The scheme has recently been introduced in 11 provinces and
has contributed to a five-million-litre reduction in gasoline consumption in
November compared with the same month last year, according to the report.
The identification and registration of emergency fuel cards
and filling stations also helped reduce gasoline consumption in Tehran by 3% to
4% in October, Azimifar said.
He added that the combined impact of the implemented
policies had increased compressed natural gas (CNG) consumption nationwide by
15%.
The meeting also reviewed measures to strengthen the
resilience of the gas network during winter. The government has set targets to
reduce daily natural gas consumption by 25 million cubic metres in the
household sector and a further five million cubic metres across commercial,
educational, tourism, agricultural and smaller industrial sectors.