The volume of gas transmission across the country in the last Iranian year (March 2022-23) increased by 2% compared to the previous year, the managing director of Iranian Gas Transmission Company said.
“Last year, close to 274 billion cubic meters of gas were transferred across Iran while the figure was 268 bcm in the previous year,” Gholam Abbas Hosseini was also quoted as saying by the Energy Today website.
“The largest volume of gas transmission pertained to household use and due to the rise in temperature and cold winter last year, a high record of gas transfer was registered on Feb. 10, as more than 858 million cubic meters of gas were transferred on that day,” he added.
The official noted that timely repair and maintenance of pipelines and gas pressure boosting facilities, as well as the completion of the major overhaul of 44 turbines resulted in network stability and non-stop operation of turbo-compressors.
The National Iranian Gas Company supplies natural gas to over 95% of the country's population.
The previous sweet gas transfer record, set in January 2022, was 852 million cubic meters per day.
As development plans are underway in different regions, a rise in gas transfer is also expected. With the installation of new pipelines and the construction of pressure boosting stations, more gas can be transmitted through the Iran Gas Trunkline, which is a series of nine large diameter pipelines built to supply gas from refineries in the southern Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces.
First in Asia
In terms of the network size, IGTC, a subsidiary of NIGC, ranks first in Asia and fourth in the world after the US, Russia and Canada.
The company has established more than 38,000 kilometers of pipelines and built 88 gas pressure boosting stations with 326 compressor units and nine gas export and import terminals. It has the capacity to transfer more than 280 bcm of gas per year.
Supplying gas to underprivileged areas is on the company’s agenda and the gas network will cover more subscribers in remote rural regions.
Currently, some 36,000 villages — comprising 85% of rural areas — have access to natural gas and 6,000 more will be added soon. Expansion of the national gas grid has been made possible because of the rise in gas production.
NIGC has invested over $17 billion in natural gas infrastructure since 2013.
Domestic gas output has surpassed 1 billion cubic meters per day, a major part of which comes from the giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.
South Pars meets 80% of Iran’s gas needs and the decline in output will create huge problems for households, industries and thermal power stations.
The giant gas field is spread over 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran’s territorial waters and the rest is in Qatari waters.
With an estimated 14.2 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves in place plus 18 billion barrels of gas condensate, the Iranian side of the field accounts for 40% of Iran’s total estimated 33.8 tcm of gas reserves and 60% of its gas production.
Iran holds the world’s second largest gas reserves after Russia. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, Iran has 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, or 18% of the world’s proven reserves.
