Gas supply to all cities and villages of Iran will be completed within the next two years, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company said.
“So far, natural gas has been provided to more than 98% of urban areas and over 90% of rural regions across the country,” IRNA also quoted Majid Chegeni as saying.
He made the statement at the weekend in a ceremony to start the executive operations of gas supply to three cities and 185 villages of Noshahr, Noor and Amol counties in the northern Mazandaran Province.
“Currently, 1,260 cities and more than 35,000 villages in different regions have access to piped gas,” he said, adding that only a few cities and about 7,000 villages have not been supplied with gas yet. With the ongoing projects and endeavors made by NIGC and other related organizations, gas supply to the remaining cities and villages will be completed in two years,” he said.
Expanding the gas network to small towns and villages in remote areas of the southern region, laying gas pipelines and setting up compressor stations are NIGC’s priorities.
According to the NIGC data, there are more than 25 million natural gas subscribers in the country. In addition, 86 thermal power plants use gas, instead of liquid fuel, to generate electricity.
A project to install 700 km of gas transmission pipelines and build 200 MW of gas pressure facilities will be completed by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2021-22).
Gas transmission network has surpassed 37,500 km and gas transmission capacity has exceeded 850 million cubic meters per day.
The national gas supply has greatly contributed to the development of infrastructure in rural areas.
The construction of transmission lines and distribution network has created a chain of direct and indirect employment as it has been carried out by Iranian experts, engineers and workforce using equipment manufactured by domestic producers.
The expansion of the national gas grid has been made possible because of the rise in gas production.
Natural gas production capacity currently stands at 1 billion cubic meters per day, which is expected to increase by 10% and reach 1.1 bcm/d soon.
NIGC said it has invested over $17 billion in natural gas infrastructure since 2014. The major portion of the funds went to complete the South Pars Gas Field phases and the Iran Gas Trunkline to expedite gas delivery to remote rural areas, power plants and industries,
IGAT is a series of nine large diameter pipelines built to supply gas from refineries in the southern Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces.
Holding 34 trillion cubic meters of gas, Iran has the largest proven gas reserves in the world. The amount constitutes 18% of the world’s proven reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
Gas Supply to Mazandaran
The project launched at the weekend in the Mazandaran Province includes installing over 1,800 km of gas transmission line, which are to be completed at a cost of $32 million.
According to the provincial gas company, of the total 61 cities in the province, 59 have been provided with piped gas. This is while `gas supply covers 2,467 villages of the total 3,613 villages in the province.
So far, 99% of cities and 95% of villages in Mazandaran have been supplied with gas, and based on the plans, the whole province will be connected to the national gas grid in the next two years.
Expanding national gas grid in small towns and villages can help increase the wave of "reverse migration", from bigger cities to smaller towns and suburban areas.
Providing residents in rural areas with natural gas will not only help develop infrastructure, but also create much-needed employment that will result in economic prosperity in the long run.
