Iran raises motorists' New Year fuel ration

Iran will grant private motorists an additional 100 litres of gasoline for the Iranian New Year holidays, which start on March 19, nine months after the country introduced fuel rationing, media reported on Sunday. The world's fourth-largest oil producer lacks refining capacity and must therefore import large amounts of fuel, which it then sells at heavily subsidised prices.
It launched rationing last June to curb soaring consumption. The state oil refining and distribution firm said in December that the scheme, which provoked anger among Iranians when it was introduced, had cut average daily consumption by 22 percent to 59 million litres compared with a year earlier.