Close to 203 billion cubic meters of natural gas was used in ten months to December 21, head of the state-run National Iranian Gas Company said.
“It jumped by a massive 53 bcm or 35% compared to the same period in 2018,” Hassan Montazer-Torbati, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Consumption in the ten months was at 193 bcm in 2019, he added and said that households and power plants have used 10 bcm more gas in 2020. “Of the 10 bcm approximately 7 bcm was used by households and the balance by thermal power stations.”
Referring to Nov. 21-Dec.20 data, he said home consumption surged 10% compared to 2019 and reached 550 million cubic meters per day.
The senior official referred to work at the giant South Pars Gas field in the Persian Gulf and said phases 13 and 14 hook up operations, delayed due to covid lockdowns, are being completed gradually and when operational the two phases will add 30 million cubic meters to national output. Phases 22-24 will be fully operational by March and also produce 30 mcm of gas.
Gas production capacity reached 740 mcm/d in 2019, of which 600 mcm/d came from SP and the rest (140 mcm/d) from the Iranian Central Oil Fields.
Although gas production capacity has approached 830 mcm/d, demand (especially the household sector) is also growing, meaning the eco-friendly fuel (natural gas) that should be delivered to power plants to avoid burning mazut is used in homes.
Burning Mazut
In related news, IRNA reported Isa Kalantari, head of the Department of Environment, as saying that there is a direct link between air pollution in metropolitan cities in winter and use of mazut in power stations.
In addition to high home gas consumption that compels NIGC to reduce power plants’ quotas, there is another reason for burning liquefied fuel in power stations, he said.
“Due to the US sanctions, the National Iranian Oil Company cannot export mazut. Instead of constructing warehouses for the fuel, NIGC has opted for the easier way out: selling it to power plants.”
Despite Kalantari’s accusation, authorities including Mohammadreza Joulaee, head of the NIGC Dispatching Department, insist that the current air pollution in Tehran has “nothing to do with burning mazut.”
According to Joulaee, power plants in Isfahan, Tehran and Mashhad (the most polluted ares in Iran) have not yet started using mazut. One need not be an environmentalist to understand that what the NIGC official said does not make a whole lot of sense.
Simply put, the NIGC is not telling the truth when it says thermal plants in mega cities are not using mazut and the most important source of pollution is motor cycles.
Charts seen on Tehran Air Quality Control Company’s website, airnow.tehran.ir, show that so far in December Tehran’s residents were exposed to more polluted air and the clear blue skies were not seen at all, meaning that the air quality index did not fall below 50.
The index categorizes conditions dictated by a measure of polluting matters into good (0-50), moderate (51-100), unhealthy for sensitive groups (101-150), unhealthy (151-200), very unhealthy (201-300) and hazardous (301-500).
TAQCC data show that in December, "moderate" status was the prevailing air condition as the index hovered between 51 and 100 for 22 days.
