Iran has turned into one of the biggest energy grids in the world, with 70 percent of the energy coming from gas, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Sunday after opening the Shourijeh storage facility in Khorasan Razavi Province.
"Gas supply to power plants has increased by 35 percent and this has curbed the burning of less liquid fuels," he said, stressing that there is more to be done to supply gas to power plants.
He insisted that joint oil fields are on the oil ministry's agenda and extraction from joint Iran-Turkmenistan fields must be accelerated.
"Joint fields with Turkmenistan are more important now, as there is a shortage of energy in the north and transferring energy from the southern regions is too costly. Gas production in the north translates into proximity to the consumer market as transport costs will be eliminated."
Extending the pipelines and establishing new on-the-ground and underground storage points for liquefied natural gas (LNG) are underway, he added.
Daily gas consumption has reached 600 million cubic meters in Iran. "This is an achievement because we have the least gas-dependent energy grid in the world. Around 70 percent of the country's energy comes from gas, but we need to improve the stability of the grid and install more pipelines."
"Sarajeh and Shourijeh facilities in Qom and Khorasan provinces are well set projects with Shourijeh being a $400 million investment," the minster was quoted as saying by ILNA.
Gas storage level will reach 20 million cubic meters next year, while storage projects must expand, pipelines must turn into a grid, according to Zanganeh.
"The oil ministry aims to help create jobs, overhaul the petrochemical industry and enhance the optimization of gas consumption," he said.
