Annual natural gas transfer capacity has increased by 20 billion cubic meters over the last two years.
Data released by the National Iranian Gas Company news portal shows 260 bcm of gas can be supplied across the country per annum making Iran the fourth largest gas grid in the world after the US, Russia and Canada.
“By 2025, the length of gas pipelines is expected to increase by 9,000 kilometer upon which annual gas supply capacity will reach 400 bcm from 260 bcm at present,” the portal added.
The length of gas pipelines was 36,000 km in 2017 and 1,000 km was added in 2018. The national gas grid will be extended to 45,000 km in eight years, the company said.
NIGC produces 900 million cubic meters of gas per day, which is planned to reach 1.2 bcm/d by 2022.
Reportedly, there are more than 22.3 million gas subscribers in the country.
According to Saeed Tavakkoli, managing director of Iranian Gas Transmission Company, the government wants to build 51 new gas compression stations in eight years, taking the total to 130. A record 746 million cubic meters of gas was supplied in one day on Dec. 14, 2017.
Iran's gas network has the capacity to supply 800 million cubic meters of gas on a daily basis, he said, adding that the infrastructure in place now allows for the supply of up to 40 mcm/d of gas to Turkey and 25 mcm/d to Iraq.
The maximum amount of gas leakage in the pipelines is estimated at 13 mcm/d, or less than 2%, he said.
