To bolster gas supply to eastern provinces, operations to extend a gas pipeline from Dashtak County in Sistan-Baluchestan to Nehbandan and Sarbisheh counties in South Khorasan have started, the head of state-run National Iranian Gas Company said.
“The 200-km pipeline will be laid in 18 months at an estimated cost of $150 million by the Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company,” Majid Chegeni was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
The project, in addition to providing the energy needed by industries in the region, will help promote sustainable development in eastern Iran, and improve economic and tourism activities in the underprivileged province, he added.
Referring to a drop in pressure in the national gas distribution network last winter in Torbat-e Jam County, Khorasan Razavi Province, he noted that the plan will ensure stable gas supply in eastern regions and help prevent severe disruptions.
According to the official, a similar pipe-laying project is underway to transfer gas from Torbat-e Heydarieh, Khorasan Razavi Province, to Dizbad rural district in Nishabour.
Both pipelines are extensions of the Iran Gas Trunkline 7 (IGAT-7) that stretches 1,000 km between Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, and Iranshahr in Sistan-Baluchestan, pumping natural gas from the giant South Pars field in the Persian Gulf.
“Transferring gas from Bushehr Province in the southwest to Khorasan Province in the northeast is a laborious task, as a 2,000-kilometer pipeline should be laid,” Chegeni said.
NIGC has extended the Iran Gas Trunkline [IGAT] by at least 1,000 kilometers in the last 11 months of the last fiscal year [March 2022-February 2023] – an unprecedented feat in the history of the company.”
The official said NIGC has over 37,000 km of high-pressure gas pipelines, 315 turbo-compressors, 90 boosting pressure stations and major installations in the key gas sector.
Giving a breakdown on operations completed in 2022, he noted that the pipe-laying projects included Zahedan-Zabol in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Zarand-Larestan in Kerman Province, Torbat-e Heidariyeh-Mirjaveh in Khorasan Razavi and Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Qom-Parchin in Tehran Province and Iranshahr-Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
Other projects, including Minab-Kouhmobarak in Hormozgan Province and Dashtak-Sarbisheh in Fars and South Khorasan provinces, are also underway, he added, noting that new gas boosting pressure stations in Isfahan and Fars provinces will become operational in the near future.
Gas Transfer Capacity
By 2025, the length of Iran’s gas pipelines should reach 40,000 km and the annual gas transfer capacity will hit 400 billion cubic meters from the current 300 billion cubic meters, the NIGC chief said.
According to Chegeni, to ensure a stable gas supply, IGEDC is building seven gas storage facilities across the country. Upon their completion in the next three years, NIGC’s gas storage capacity will reach 250 million cubic meters, accounting for 25% of Iran’s daily output.
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.
Operating since 1970, the IGAT-1 pipeline, with a diameter of 42 inches, was constructed between Bidboland Refinery in Khuzestan Province and the port of Astara in the northern Gilan Province.
IGAT-2 connects Fajr Refinery in Bushehr Province and Qazvin Province in the north while IGAT-3 extends from Asalouyeh to Markazi Province and ultimately reaches Gilan Province.
Stretching over 1,145 kilometers, IGAT-4 with a capacity of 110 mcm/d, transfers gas produced in South Pars phases 1 to 5 in Asalouyeh to Fars and Isfahan provinces.
IGAT-5 transfers sour gas produced in South Pars phases 6, 7 and 8 to Khuzestan Province for injection into oil wells to boost extraction.
IGAT-6 transfers gas from South Pars to southern and western regions, namely Hamedan and Kermanshah provinces.
IGAT-7 stretches over 1,000 km between Asalouyeh and Iranshahr in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
The 56-inch-diameter IGAT-8 pipeline, stretches over 1,000 km and transfers 110 mcm of gas from South Pars to the central parts of the country on a daily basis.
