Several previously discovered, but not-yet exploitable, gas reservoirs were handed over to the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) for further assessments before being put into operation, said NIGC managing director.
So far, assessment plans on seven reservoirs have been submitted to the oil ministry, according to which further evaluations on well locations would be conducted to be ultimately converted to storage facilities, Hamidreza Araqi was quoted by Shana news agency as saying.
Bringing into service new gas reservoirs is a major policy of the oil ministry with the aim of increasing storage capacity, as stipulated by the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2016-2021).
As envisaged in the plan, several gas storage facilities will go on stream over the next few years, securing gas supply stability, especially during cold season. Referring to Shourijeh and Sarajeh gas storage facilities, which went into operation over the past two years, Araqi said currently the two facilities' storage capacity stands at 25 million cubic meters of gas.
Shourijeh facility off Sarakhs city, near Mashhad, is one of the country's main gas storage points, which helps to boost gas supplies in the northern and northeastern provinces during times of peak demand. Having an ultimate capacity of 4.8 billion cubic meters, the facility places Iran as the leader in the region in terms of gas storage and in fifth position in the world.
Sarajeh, the first natural gas storage facility in Iran and the Middle East, was officially inaugurated last January near Qom, 124km south of Tehran. It has the capacity to store 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas in its first phase and 3.3 billion cubic meters in the second.
According to the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2011-2016), 14 percent of the gas consumption across the country should come from the storage facilities.
