Iran's gas import from Turkmenistan stood at 3.6 billion cubic meters in the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 21), said the director of gas supply division at National Iranian Gas Company.
"Gas extraction from reservoirs also saw a 4.2% hike to reach 92.5 bcm" in that period, IRNA quoted Nasser Ebrahimi as saying.
During March-September, more than 35 bcm of gas were supplied to power plants as feedstock, up by 13% from 31 bcm in the corresponding period of last year.
The official said gas injection into oil reservoirs increased by more than 25% to 2.5 bcm over the past 183 days, while gas injection into gas caps increased by 34.5% vis-à-vis the previous year.
Currently, Turkmenistan is Iran's sole gas import source to meet the demand of the country's northeastern regions in winter.
Iran has a number of plans to reduce gas dependency, all of which target renovation of the distribution network between the northeastern and other parts of the state.
Additionally, once inaugurated, Shourijeh underground gas storage facility will provide gas to the region during cold seasons.
Located 25 km southeast of Sarakhs and 160 km from Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, the facility is the country's largest gas storage project, and has a daily injection and withdrawal capacity of 20 million cubic meters per day. In winter, 20 mcm of natural gas can be extracted from the facility and fed into the national electricity grid.
Iran holds the world’s biggest natural gas reserves, or about 17% of the world's proven gas reserves. The country's largest natural gas field, South Pars, is estimated to hold roughly 40% of Iran's gas reserves.
