On Tuesday, October 29, Malek Shariati, a Member of Majlis (Parliament) Energy Commission, revealed in a television program that oil has been stolen directly from beneath a refinery pipeline in Iran.
He did not specify the name of the refinery or the exact duration of the theft. According to Shariati, refinery officials “for several years” were unaware that a branch had been tapped under the pipeline, allowing oil to be siphoned off.
Criticizing the lack of adequate oversight, Shariati questioned, “Why did the person responsible for monitoring the pipeline from start to finish not detect this?” He emphasized that a careful examination of the refinery’s input could have easily prevented this theft.
The MP noted that the cost of this theft comes “out of the public’s pocket” and added that the theft was ultimately discovered by law enforcement. The main motivation behind thefts from oil, diesel, and gasoline pipelines in Iran is described as the “difference between domestic and regional oil product prices.”
Significant Increase in Oil Theft in Iran
This is not the first time reports of oil and petroleum product theft in Iran have surfaced. Last year, Arsalan Rahimi, CEO of the Iranian Oil Pipelines and Telecommunications Company, reported a “tenfold increase” in theft due to rising energy prices.
In April 2021, the head of Tehran’s Preventive Police announced that two brothers had purchased land near a gasoline pipeline in Tehran with the intent to steal gasoline, ultimately losing their lives due to gasoline leaking into a well they had dug.
In March 2024, state television aired footage of a professional team that had tunneled into the Tehran Oil Refinery over two years. The report claimed that the thieves had tapped the main output pipeline of the refinery to begin siphoning off petroleum products.
In response to the report, the Tehran refinery claimed that all its facilities are installed above ground and that the company does not have any underground oil pipelines.
The theft of five kilometers of unused oil pipeline along the Bushehr provincial border is another example of damage to Iran’s petroleum equipment and products. After arresting those responsible, a local law enforcement official stated, “The stolen pipelines were valued at 170 billion rials (approximately 250,000 dollars), but they appear to be worth significantly more.”
