Iran has exported 20.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas over the past three years, 13.6% more than its total exports during former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term in office from 2009 to 2013.
Hamidreza Araqi, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, made the above statement on Wednesday, Shana reported.
“Steady gas supply to neighboring states has caused international markets to establish trust with Iran. Moreover, the increase in exports can help generate more revenues for the country,” he said. According to Araqi, not only does the gas industry meet the domestic needs of different sectors, but it also accounts for a significant proportion of national revenues.
Highlighting NIGC’s efforts to undertake development projects all over the country, the official noted that there has been a dramatic rise in delivering gas to power plants and industries, thanks to the satisfactory completion of more South Pars Gas Field phases, which has resulted in curbing air pollution.
“We have put rapid expansion of gas network high on our agenda, that is why during the last three years, 91 towns and 130 villages have been provided with natural gas. Furthermore, plans call for extending the network to 70 more towns as well as 8,000 villages by the end of 2017,” he said.
Araqi believes that nationwide gas network coverage will definitely contribute to energy security and welfare, especially in underprivileged areas.
Export Plans
According to Alireza Kameli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company, the more natural gas is delivered to power plants, the more liquefied fuel will be exported.
Asked about plans to raise natural gas exports, he added that in spite of the considerable rise in output, there has been no change in export level, as surplus production is sent to power plants. However, as soon as all power plants are fed with natural gas as feedstock, gas exports will experience a drastic increase.
On negotiations with foreign enterprises to export gas, Kameli noted that serious talks are underway with companies that have shown interest in investing in FLNG and mini liquefied natural gas initiatives and as soon as negotiations come to fruition, licenses to export gas will be given to them as an incentive to invest in more projects.
FLNG refers to water-based LNG operations employing technologies designed to enable the development of offshore natural gas resources.
Iran has close to 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, which is around 18% of the total global natural gas reserves. This means Iran has the potential to become a major player in the natural gas market when all sanctions are lifted by the yearend.
Iran's strategic location can help meet the growing natural gas demand of Asian countries like India, China and Pakistan, and is therefore planning a number of gas pipelines to boost exports.
India and Pakistan present the most promising market for gas exports in the medium term, but even Europe is not out of reach in the long run.
Although Iran has the biggest global natural gas reserves, it currently contributes just 1% to the total global natural gas trade with almost 90% of its natural gas exports going to Turkey, while the remainder goes to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
