“More than 177 km of pipelines will be laid by the end of the fiscal year (in March),” Energy Today website quoted Bahram Salavati as saying.
Regarding equipment and parts used in the gas transmission and distribution network, he said when raw material for some parts is available inside the country, the final product is 100% domestic-made.
“Sometimes we import raw materials, but all the stages of manufacturing are undertaken by Iranian engineers,” Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.
“We have big companies that meet the needs of gas and other industries. We can now complete all gas projects, from pipelines and pressure stations to storage tanks, pressure regulating stations and infrastructure projects,” Salavati noted.
With the help of local knowledge-based companies and experts, indigenizing components and equipment for the gas industry has been made possible and currently there is no major problem with technical issues and localization.
Iran has over 37,000km of high-pressure gas pipelines, 305 turbo-compressors, 84 pressure stations and major installations in the key gas sector. Transmission and distribution pipelines now stretch over 350,000 km.
Grid Expansion
NIGC data show that 98% of the urban population will have access to natural gas by the end of the fiscal year. Currently, more than 77% of the rural population is connected to the national gas network.
Currently over 1,100 cities, 24,000 towns and 27,000 villages are linked to the rapidly expanding grid. According to plans, by the end of the year gas supply to 3,000 villages will be complete.
The move is in line with the government's goal of linking all urban areas and 90% of the suburban population to the gas network by 2022.
Iran holds the world’s second largest gas reserves after Russia. According to BP Statistical Review of World Energy, Iran holds as much as 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas that is 18% of the world’s proven reserves.
Iran’s daily gas output has reached 850 million cubic meters, a major part of which (610 mcm/d) comes from the giant South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.
South Pars is the world’s largest gas field located on the joint border between Iran and Qatar, covering an area of 3,700 square kilometers of Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.
The field is being developed in 24 phases in Iran, many of which are up and running. More than $72 billion has been invested in the giant project since work started two decades ago. Investments are forecast to rise to $87 billion.