Domestic Gas Use Near 700 mcm

EghtesadOnline: Gas consumption by households, commercial centers and small industries in Iran has reached an unprecedented 692 million cubic meters per day on Saturday, the oil minister said.

News ID: ۷۸۷۶۷۴

24 January 2022

“In the last 24 hours, gas consumption in the domestic, commercial and non-major industrial sectors has set a record. However, gas supply is stable and no gas outages have been reported in any provinces,” IRNA also quoted Javad Owji as saying.

The minister emphasized that although oil and gas industry personnel are striving to ensure gas is supplied to different sectors as usual, the continuation of these conditions requires the cooperation of households and other subscribers who are advised to reduce consumption.

Since the beginning of the cold season and despite the unprecedented cold weather in recent years, there has been no gas outages in the country unlike previous years.

Last year, 640 million cubic meters per day were registered as the maximum gas consumption, which figure has increased by over 50 mcm so far this year and if the current trend were to continue, consumption is expected to touch new highs until the end of the winter.

Currently, more than 80% of the gas produced in the country are consumed in the household sector.

According to Iran Meteorological Organization, more than 28 provinces of the country have sub-zero temperatures. Gas consumption in the northern and northwestern provinces, including Ardabil, East and West Azarbaijan, Kurdestan and Mazandaran as well as the northeastern provinces, is higher than other parts of the country due to the drop in temperature. The colder the weather, the higher the gas use, and there is a possibility of pressure drop in some of these regions.

Above Global Average

Iran burns record amounts of natural gas, which is way higher than the global average. While average global gas consumption has risen by 1.65% in three decades, demand for the fuel in Iran has shot up by 4.2% in the same period.

From 2011 to 2019, energy consumption in the globe had a downward trend, while it was the opposite in Iran as it registered 33% growth.

The uptrend in Iran has continued and excessive gas consumption in the past few months in the domestic and commercial sectors has broken records several times.

Iran offers natural gas to households and businesses at highly subsidized rates, which experts blame for the illogically high level of gas consumption in the country.

The National Iranian Gas Company has the capacity to pump nearly 1 billion cubic meters of gas per day to the national network.

Of this volume, 700 mcm of gas will be provided through 37 offshore platforms in the Persian Gulf and the South Pars Gas Field, which account for 70% of the country's gas output. The rest is produced by the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company’s three subsidiaries, namely West Oil and Gas Production Company, East Oil and Gas Production Company and South Zagros Oil and Gas Production Company.

The gas is used by households, commercial centers and various industries, including cement, petrochemical and power plants.

The government has devised plans to ensure power plants in Iran have access to adequate supplies of fuel oil over the winter to prevent any electricity outage in the country.