Natural gas consumption in the household sector fell by 61% over the last two weeks as many regions experienced a rise in temperature, head of the public relations office of the National Iranian Gas Company said.
"Nationwide consumption has plummeted by 230 million cubic meters (per day) and reached 390 mcm/d," Mohammad Asgari was quoted as saying by ISNA on Monday.
Households used close to 630 mcm of natural gas (per day) in January and February when the mercury fell to minus zero in most parts of Iran.
Normal gas consumption is between 400 to 500 mcm/d (in winter), but it hit an all-time high of 630 mcm/d in January.
The mercury in Tehran, and other cities with relatively moderate climate (compared to the southern regions), has been bordering near 18 degrees Celsius in the past few days.
National gas production and supply capacity stands at 850 million cubic meters per day and 50 mcm/d is exported to Iraq and Turkey.
High consumption in the period (January and February) took its toll on industries, power stations and petrochemical cutting these off from the national grid.
Regarding power stations, Asgari said close to 120 mcm/d of gas was scheduled to be delivered to power plants, but this was reduced to less than 40 mcm/d in the cold days. Mazut was supplied instead because of which routine maintenance work will take one month longer than usual and end in June.
It is clear that with more dirty fuels (to produce electricity), more toxic fumes will be hurled into the atmosphere making a bad air pollution situation worse.
Almost 40% of gas in the Middle East is consumed in Iran, an unreasonably high level by any standard. The residential sector is the largest consumer followed by power plants and petrochemical companies.
With a population of 82 million, Iran consumes more than 140 billion cubic meters of gas annually, not far from China, the world’s second-largest economy and the most populous country in the world, which consumed 191 billion cubic meters in 2015.
*** Verdict Pending
In related news, Asgari said that despite reports in local media that said NIGC has won the legal case against Turkmengaz, the national gas company of Turkmenistan, no court verdict has yet been issued.
NIGC filed a lawsuit against Turkmengaz in 2018 with the International Court of Arbitration.
“The case is still under review and investigations are going on. The court has not yet ruled in favor of any party.”
Rejecting reports from the rumor mills, he asserted that any new development will be officially reported by the NIGC.
According to a 1997 agreement between the two countries, Turkmenistan exported gas to Iran and jacked up prices almost every year.
Iran imported Turkmen gas to supply its northern regions in winter. In 2006 Turkmenistan increased gas prices nine-fold to $360 per 1,000 cubic meters from $40.
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