The project to supply gas to Chabahar County, Sistan-Baluchestan Province, was launched on Saturday, the gas supply coordination director of the National Iranian Gas Company said.
“The project will be carried out in two phases to provide gas for all the regions of Chabahar. The first phase includes laying 250 kilometers of transmission lines, which will be implemented with a credit of $12.5 million and in the second phase, 350 km of pipelines will be laid at a cost of $15 million,” Moslem Rahmani was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Supplying gas to the whole city is expected to be completed by the next 18 months, he added.
Referring to the construction of the pipeline to transfer natural gas from Iranshahr to Chabahar, he said, “The project is in its final stages and will be completed in the next two months. It has been done with an investment of about $427 million.”
Iranshahr was the first county in the province, which was partly connected to the gas grid. From there, a 262-km pipeline supplies gas to Zahedan, the provincial capital bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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.
Gas supply to the port city of Chabahar on Makran (also Mokran) coasts will contribute to the region’s prosperity, especially in the industrial sector.
So far, over 100 factories and industrial units in the province have been 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.
Other Projects
Other gas projects are also underway in Sistan-Baluchestan.
The Iranshahr-Palizan-Khash-Mirjaveh gas pipeline, 256 kilometers long, will supply gas to Khash County and the city's cement factory, the border city of Mirjaveh as well as Sangan and Siah Jangal cities.
Projects to provide gas to 120 villages through 890 kilometers of distribution networks are also being carried out with a credit of $85 million.
Executive operations for extending gas pipelines to eight other cities have also started.
Currently, a large number of people in the cities of Zahedan, Zabol, Iranshahr, Bampur and Mohammadan, as well as villages around them have access to piped gas.
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 second largest province but one of the poorest of the 31 provinces in Iran. It is the only province partly deprived of piped gas. Until the whole population is connected to the grid, homes are making do with liquefied fuel.
Almost 4.7 million liters of liquefied 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.
Almost 95% of the country’s population of 85 million are linked to the national gas network. An estimated five million people do not have access to piped gas, about half of which are living in Sistan-Baluchestan.
Southeastern Iran has great potential for economic prosperity and access to natural gas resources could be an important step in the development of the region and play an important role in turning Chabahar Port into an important source of income for the country,
The completion of gas grid in southeastern regions would be a great boost to Chabahar Port, Iran’s largest ocean port. Chabahar has been officially designated a free trade and industrial zone by the government.
