Due to unexpected cold weather during the last few days, gas was unseasonably drawn from the storage facilities, said the managing director of Iranian Central Oil Fields Co.
Because of the unusual rain and cold, 1.7 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas was drawn from the second national storage facility, in order to supply the required gas.
During the cold seasons, a total of 20 mcm of natural gas will be drawn from Sarajeh and Shourijeh per day, Tasnim news agency quoted Salab-Ali Karimi as saying.
With an 8°C decrease in the average temperature, domestic gas consumption is estimated to rise, reaching as high as 350 mcm per day.
Shourijeh facility, located in Sarakhs city in Khorassan Razavi province, is designed to store gas produced from joint fields -especially the giant South Pars fields in the south. It supplies gas to provinces of North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Gilan and Ardebil on the northern, northeastern and northwestern flanks.
Shourijeh facility is capable of storing up to 4.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas. Natural gas reservoirs are meant to store excess gas during low-demand periods to be withdrawn during periods of peak demand.
