TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami said the country would start petrol export from next March.

"Iran is not exporting gas presently due to its local needs, but it only sells light and heavy naphtha since it is improving its reserves," he told ISNA.

He continued Iran exported two consignments of petrol from last March, but it has continued only exporting naphtha since then. "Now our petrol consumption exceeds our production, but petrol production will become more than its consumption by March and we will be able to export the product."

Zeighami noted Iran is producing 60 million liters of petrol daily and the amount would hit 73 million liters by March 2012.

Iran is under 4 rounds of the UN Security Council resolutions over its refusal to halt peaceful enrichment work. Iran however insists its nuclear enrichment only aims to generate power and meet medical needs.

The sanctions mainly target Iran's energy and banking sectors as well as industrial domains. However Iran says that it has managed to bypass sanctions and obtain self-sufficiency in the domain of petrol production.