Iran plans to produce gasoline form natural gas by the use of the GTL (Gas to Liquids) method, says the Iranian deputy minister of industry and mines.
Majlid Hedayat said on Monday that a pilot GTL production plant is expected to be operational within the next two weeks in the Iranian capital city, Tehran, to produce gasoline for a 3-month trial, Mehr news agency reported.
GTL is a refinery process which converts natural gas into gasoline or diesel fuel.
Six hundred million dollars would be invested in GTL industry, Hedayat further explained.
The Iranian official also noted that the country is planning to set up two industrial and semi-industrial plants to produce 13,000 barrels of gasoline per day.
Iran, which sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is the second largest oil producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.