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Southern Islands to Join Nat’l Gas Network

Southern Islands to Join Nat’l Gas Network
Southern Islands to Join Nat’l Gas Network

Persian Gulf Islands belonging to Iran will be linked to the national gas distribution network, said an official at the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC).

The new initiative aims to reduce consumption of liquefied fuel, and especially liquefied gas and kerosene.  Providing the islands with gas from the national network, means that surplus liquefied fuels may be exported. "The two touristic islands of Kish and Qeshm have been prioritized," Mehr news agency quoted Heidar Parvin, managing director of Hormozgan Province Gas Company (HPGC), as saying.

Funding provisions, set to be allocated by the HPGC, are currently under consideration, Parvin said. "If Kish Free Zone Organization cooperates the project could start as early as next year (beginning March 2015)."

According to estimates, residential, commercial, and industrial gas consumption on Kish Island is forecast to stand at one million cubic meters per day.

The island's gas is currently supplied through associated gas collected from Sirri oilfield. Two pipelines, 82 kilometers and 112 kilometers long, transfer the gas from Sirri to Kish and Qeshm.

Qeshm island, the largest Island on the Persian Gulf, will also be linked to the national network.  Other port cities in the southern coastal regions will also join the national gas network, a measure which will significantly reduce consumption of petroleum products.

"Once the export pipeline designed to carry gas from Iran to Oman goes into operation, more cities will be linked to the national network," Parvin said without elaboration. Last year, Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to export gas to Oman starting from 2015.  It is as 25-year contract, valued at around $60 billion. The MoU, signed by oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Omani oil minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, includes an a gas pipeline to Oman. Iran has approximately 29.6 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves which accounts for 16 percent of the world’s total reserves.

Financialtribune.com