The state-run National Iranian Gas Company injected close to 262 billion cubic meters of gas into the Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT) in the last fiscal year that ended on March 20, up 6% or 16 bcm compared to a year ago, head of the NIGC Dispatching Department said.
“Of the total output, 244 bcm was consumed domestically and the rest was exported,” Mohammadreza Joulaee was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry news portal.
Giving a breakdown on domestic use, he Joulaee said gas delivery to thermal power stations reached 66 bcm in the 12-month period, up 8% compared to the previous year.
Almost 92% of Iran’s electricity (60,000 megawatts) is produced by 123 power stations, most of which run on natural gas.
“Gas consumption in industries namely petrochemical and cement factories reached 46 bcm, indicating a growth of 7% compared to 41 bcm in 2019.”
Households and the commercial sector accounted for the major share of consumption at 121 bcm during the year or 8% more than a year ago.
Approximately 11 bcm was either stored in Sarajeh and Shourijeh storage facilities in Qom and Khorasan provinces or injected into oil wells, he added.
Regarding exports, he said 18 bcm was sold to Iraq and Turkey in 2020. Neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan also buy gas from Iran via swap deals.
“NIGC produces upwards of 950 million cubic meters a day that is mostly used to meet domestic demand.”
Curbing Pollution
Supplying gas to power plants, instead of liquefied fuels such as diesel and mazut, has not only curbed air pollution but also increased foreign currency revenue.
According to Joulaee, air pollution has been a challenge in the cold season for more than a decade as consumption of diesel and mazut increases in power plants. However, the government has started substituting liquefied fuels with natural gas in the power plants.
Iran has abundant natural gas deposits and it is more cost-effective to use gas for power generation instead of liquid fuels.
NIGC has managed to substantially raise gas production, especially from the giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf to meet the growing needs of power plants. However, households’ demand was so high last winter that gas delivery to power plants was cut by half falling to 100 mcm/d.
While average global gas consumption has risen 2% in the past three decades in Iran demand has hiked by a massive 4% during the same period.
"Such consumption patterns must change,” or else there will another energy crisis,” experts have regularly warned.
In related news, IRNA quoted Hassan Montazer-Torbati, managing director of NIGC as saying that gas output is expected to increase by 150 million cubic meters per day over the next four months.
"Current production of 950 mcm per day will increase by 15% to 1.1 bcm/d by July.”
The added production will come from phases 13 and 14 of South Pars Gas Field, which are not yet fully operational. The sixth, ninth, 10th and 11th Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT-6, IGAT-9, IGAT-10, IGAT-11) are being extended.
IGAT is a series of nine large diameter pipelines built to supply gas from refineries in the south (Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces) across the country.
Local Manufactures
On the role of local manufacturers in promoting the key gas sector, Montazer-Torbati said, “The gas industry is focused on domestic capabilities and most items for the distribution sector are made by local firms.”
In recent years NIGC has linked more than 15,000 villages. Every year, almost 1,000 kilometers of gas transmission lines are laid across the country thanks to the efforts of local engineers, the senior official said.
Iran has one of the largest gas networks in the world. Close to 40,000 km of high-pressure gas pipelines have been laid in four decades and there are plans to add 5,000 km by 2026. In terms of gas infrastructure, Iran tops the list in Asia and is third in the world after Russia and the US.
