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Becoming self-sufficient in gasoline production would reduce the impact of foreign pressure on Iran, the Iranian oil minister said Wednesday.

The European Union this week approved new sanctions on Iran that target the financial and energy sector out of concern for Iran's controversial nuclear work. The measure follows a similar move by Washington to restrict foreign activity in the Iranian oil and gas sector.

Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir Kazemi said his country plans to produce as much as 45 million gallons of gasoline per day by 2014. Consumption, meanwhile, would drop to less than 17 million gallons per day, meaning Iran could become a net exporter of gasoline, the Oil Ministry's Petroenergy Information Network reports.