Tehran: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that the energy shortages in the country have reached a critical level, while urging for unity and cooperation to overcome the crisis. Speaking at the 47th graduation ceremony of Imam Hassan Mojtaba (AS) University of Police Sciences, Pezeshkian expressed optimism about resolving the issue through collaborative efforts across all sectors of the government.
According to Islamic Republic News Agency, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran's Parliament, highlighted significant progress in energy conservation efforts. Public cooperation with President Pezeshkian's campaign to lower home heating by 2 degrees Celsius has resulted in daily savings of 40 to 45 million cubic meters of gas. Qalibaf, during a joint meeting of the Parliament's Energy Committee attended by Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi and Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad, pointed out that while energy shortages have been a persistent issue, recent discussions have largely echoed past conversations without yielding significant progress.
In other developments, the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization reported that 175 million tons of goods were handled at Iranian ports over the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year, spanning March 20 to December 22, 2024. This included over 20 million tons of oil goods and more than 39 million tons of non-oil commodities.
Furthermore, the National Iranian Oil Company set the official selling prices for its crude oil in January 2025, with Iranian Light crude for the Asian market priced at $1.35 per barrel above the Oman/Dubai average. For Northwest Europe and South Africa, Iranian Light and Heavy crude will be sold at $2.70 and $4.50 per barrel below the Brent benchmark, respectively.
Meanwhile, Tehran's non-oil exports witnessed a 67% growth in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year. Heshmatollah Asgari, Coordinating Deputy of Tehran's Governor for Economic Affairs, shared this growth data during a session focused on promoting non-oil exports from the province. This surge in exports is reflective of the province's strategic economic initiatives.
The transit of goods via Iran also saw an increase, rising by 31% in the same nine-month period. Foroud Asgari, head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, stated that 16.5 million tons of goods were transited, with expectations to reach a record 20 million tons by the end of the Iranian calendar year.