Natural gas consumption reached 242 billion cubic meters in the fiscal 2022-23, up 3 bcm compared to that of the previous year, the head of the National Iranian Gas Company Dispatching Department said.
“Household and commercial sectors accounted for the major share of consumption at 123 bcm during the year, up 1 bcm compared to a year ago,” Mohammad Reza Joulaei was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Of the total consumption (242 bcm), close to 71 bcm and 48 bcm were burnt in thermal power plants and industries, namely petrochemical and cement factories, respectively, he added.
Drawing a parallel between the first and the second half of the year in 2022, the official noted that households, power stations and industries consumed around 109 bcm of gas between March 20 and Sept. 22 and the rest (133 bcm) was used between Sept. 23 and March 20, 2023.
Referring to different sectors’ consumption in the last two weeks, Joulaei said daily consumption was about 670 mcm, of which power plants and industries accounted for daily consumption of 173 mcm and 151 mcm respectively.
“Of the total consumption [242 bcm], 222 bcm were processed in the South Pars Gas Complex in Bushehr Province, up 3% compared to last year,” he added.
The rest (20 bcm) was processed in other gas refineries, such as Khangiran in Khorasan Razavi Province.
The state-run National Iranian Gas Company produces upwards of 980 million cubic meters a day that are mostly used to meet domestic demand.
Almost 40% of gas in the Middle East are consumed in Iran, an unreasonably high level by any standard. The residential sector is the largest consumer followed by power plants and petrochem companies.
With a population of 85 million, Iran burns more than 240 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 bcm in 2015.
South Pars
NIGC has raised gas production, especially from South Pars in the Persian Gulf, to meet the growing needs of power plants. However, the household sector’s demand is so high that gas delivery to power plants is usually cut in winter.
While average global gas consumption has risen by 2% in the past three decades, demand has hiked by 4% in Iran during the same period.
"Such consumption patterns must change, or else there will be another energy crisis,” experts have warned.
According to Ahmad Zamani, a deputy manager at NIGC, gas use in the household sector in other countries, including Russia and the US, doubles in winter, but the figure rises sixfold in Iran between December and February, which is totally abnormal and puts tremendous pressure on NIGC.
“Iran is not only unable to fulfill its international export commitments, but the thermal power plants also have to burn eco-unfriendly mazut instead of gas, causing massive pollution in metropolitan cities,” the NIGC official said.
South Pars has 24 phases, all of which (except Phase 11) are now operational. The field, which Iran shares with Qatar, covers 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which (South Pars) are in Iran’s territorial waters and the rest is owned by Qatar.
On the role of local manufacturers in promoting the key gas sector, the NIGC official said the gas industry is focused on domestic capabilities and most items used in the distribution sector are made by local firms.
“In recent years, NIGC has linked more than 15,000 villages [to the gas grid] and every year, almost 1,000 kilometers of gas pipelines are laid across the country, thanks to the efforts of local engineers,” he added.
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 ranks third in the world after Russia and the US.
