Over 113,300 urban and rural subscribers in Sistan-Baluchestan Province are connected to the gas grid and projects are underway to increase the figure, managing director of Sistan-Baluchestan Gas Company said.
“Currently, a large number of people in the cities of Zahedan, Zabol, Iranshahr, Bampur and Mohammadan, and villages around them have access to piped gas via 3,650 km of gas pipeline and the government is determined to ensure that all the people in the remote province will be provided with natural gas in the near future,” Mohammad Reza Mirshekari was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
With an area of 188,222 square kilometers (equivalent to 11.5% of the country's area) and a population of more than 2.8 million people, Sistan-Baluchestan is the only province partly deprived of piped gas. Until the whole population are connected to the grid, homes are making do with liquid fuel.
Almost 4.7 million liters of liquid fuel are supplied in the country per day, of which 2.2 million liters go to the southeastern province. The volume used in the province will decline when the new projects are completed.
The ongoing gas supply projects will provide gas to power plants, petrochemical companies, industrial units and networks for domestic, commercial and industrial use.
Pipe laying and infrastructure building are underway in several cities of the province, including Zahedan, Zabol, Khash, Iranshahr, Mirjaveh, Chabahar, Mohammadan, Bampur, Bazman and Delgan.
Almost 95% of the country’s population are linked to the national gas network. An estimated five million people do not have access to piped gas, about half of which live in Sistan-Baluchestan.
Iranshahr was the first county in the province, which was partly connected to the gas grid. From there, a 262-km gas pipeline supplies gas to Zahedan, the provincial capital bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Iran Gas Trunkline
The pipeline is an extension of Iran Gas Trunkline 7 (IGAT-7) that stretches over 900 km between Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, and Iranshahr, Sistan-Baluchestan.
More than $500 million have been spent on gas transmission lines for Sistan-Baluchestan. The completion of gas supply projects will help develop the underprivileged province.
Gas supply to the port city of Chabahar on Makran (also Mokran) coasts will contribute to prosperity to the region, especially in the industrial sector.
So far, over 100 factories and industrial units in the province are linked to the gas network and 200 more will be connected soon. Natural gas as a clean fuel is gradually replacing polluting liquid fuels such as diesel and mazut in industries across the country.
A pipeline will deliver gas to Makran Petrochemical Complex under construction in Chabahar. It will have 18 production units and transform the strategically-located region into Iran’s third petrochemical hub after Mahshahr in the southwest and Asalouyeh in the south.
The first phase of the sprawling complex being is built on 1,200 hectares. When the first phase is operational, it will produce 8.5 million tons per annum, including 1.65 million tons of methanol. The output will be sold as feedstock to petrochemical companies and downstream industries and will also be exported.
