Domestic, industrial and power plant gas consumption surpassed 530 million cubic meters on Friday, 10 mcm higher compared with the same period of last year, the National Iranian Gas Company's spokesman said.
"On Friday, 97 mcm of gas were supplied to major industries and 110 mcm to power plants,"
Majid Boujarzadeh was quoted as saying by Shana.
According to the official, commercial and household sectors consumed more than 322 mcm during the last 24 hours, which was surprisingly more than in the corresponding period of last year.
He urged households to consume judiciously to help the NIGC improve gas delivery by using intelligent consumption optimization systems and improving central heating.
"The National Iranian Gas Company is committed to delivering 700 million cubic meters of gas per day to all sectors, especially households, in winter," NIGC Managing Director Hamidreza Araqi said.
Announcing that household gas consumption stood at 120 mcm last week, the official said, "Given the cold wave that has recently entered Iran, gas consumption in the household sector is anticipated to rise considerably. As statistics reveal, compared with the corresponding period of last year, the sector has seen a 106-mcm rise."
The NIGC chief announced that the government is committed to delivering 85-90 million cubic meters of gas per day to power plants in winter.
According to Araqi, gas delivered to power plants has increased by 6 billion cubic meters compared with the same period of last year.
NIGC implemented major repairs to refineries and gas transmission pipelines, and made plans for the 10th national gas pipeline to carry gas from south to central and northern parts of the country to facilitate domestic gas supply.
Araqi declared that the gas crisis is over after several energy security plans were implemented, referring to the grave shortage of gas in the winter of 2014, whereby supply to several industrial units was critically interrupted. Iran holds the world’s biggest natural gas reserves and the fourth-largest proven crude oil reserves, with around 17% of the world's proven natural gas reserves and more than one-third of OPEC's reserves belonging to Iran.
The country's largest natural gas field, South Pars, is estimated to hold roughly 40% of Iran's gas reserves.
