The world's fourth biggest oil producer Iran has successfully reduced petrol consumption after implementing a rationing scheme over angry protests, press reports said on Monday. "Petrol consumption has been down by six million litres per day and now stands at 72 million litres everyday," the hard-line Kayhan daily said, quoting oil ministry figures.
It said consumption had hit a record low of 53.2 million litres on Saturday. Press reports said that traffic has been moving more smoothly as there are about 20 percent fewer vehicles on the usually congested streets of Tehran.
On Tuesday night, the government suddenly announced the introduction of petrol rationing throughout Iran, limiting most private cars to a monthly quota of 100 litres.
The rationing is to continue for four months and might be extended to six months. The announcement triggered nation-wide protests, with angry demonstrators torching petrol stations and yelling slogans against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government. As a result of limited refining capacity, Iran has to resort to imports to meet 40 percent of demand for petrol.
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