US cents/liter) and premium grade petrol IR3000/liter, whereas the subsidized equivalents go for IR4,000/liter and IR5,000/liter, respectively. The nation's abundant oil reserves have enabled the government to keep prices low (Iran is the second-largest exporter in OPEC). However, low prices have encouraged wasteful consumption and the smuggling of petrol into neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some 1.8 billion liters of oil products worth 10 trillion rials ($1 billion) are smuggled out of Iran per annum. Given Iran's limited refining capacity, there has been a shortfall in petroleum products in recent years, requiring Iran to import an estimated in 2006/07. As a result, there is a recognition among many policymakers of the need to raise prices, and gradual increases have been implemented. However, these have tended to lag the prevailing rate of inflation, and given that raising petrol prices is politically difficult the provision of cheap fuel is likely to persist in the medium term, encouraging the purchase of vehicles. The government was nevertheless forced to take action in June 2007 when it announced both a petrol increase to 12 cents/litre and the imposition of fuel rationing, much to the chagrin of vehicle owners. The policy, which allocates 120 litres maximum per month (following revisions in December) to private car owners, will run until end-2008/09. CNG In 2008 and 2009, Iranian government spent over 3 billion dollars on CNG infrastructure as part of its plan to convert its fuel policy from gasoline to CNG. Iran, with the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, in 2011 became the world leader in natural gas vehicles with some 2.9 million on the road, narrowly edging Pakistan, which is trailed by Argentina, Brazil and India, respectively. (The United States, which does not subsidize and promote the fuel like other countries do, ranks 16th.) Iran has 1,262 vehicles per refueling station compared with 856 vehicles per refueling station in Pakistan. Prospects Like other sectors, the automotive industry is suffering from a lack of foreign direct investment (FDI) and capital imports. The privatization process is moving slowly (2008). Some 80% of state-owned firms were due to be privatized over the ten years to 2014, further to an amendment to Article 44 of the Constitution in 2004. In May 2014, Tasnim News Agency quoted Abdollah Pouri Hosseini, the head of the Iran Privatization Organization, as saying that Iran would be privatizing 186 state-run companies