“Close to 37.3 billion cubic meters of gas were transmitted through the network between March 21 and May 21, which is 3.1 bcm more than that of the previous year,” Saeed Tavakkoli was also quoted as saying by Shana, the Oil Ministry’s news agency.
According to the official, an average of 7.7 million cubic meters of gas was transmitted via the network per day in 2017.
“Iran’s gas grid has the capacity to transport some 800 mcm of gas daily,” Tavakkoli said, adding that the company’s yearly gas transmission amounts to 280 bcm, according to Financial Tribune.
The official noted that the National Iranian Oil Company delivered 212 bcm of gas to the National Iranian Gas Company in 2017, of which 203 bcm were processed and delivered to household and industrial consumers and the rest was converted to more value-added commodities.
Power stations were supplied with as much as 67 bcm of the fuel in 2017, which is expected to exceed 70 bcm in the current fiscal year.
“Petrochemical complexes received close to 50 bcm of gas in 2017,” he said, adding that household and commercial sectors accounted for 51 bcm of the total consumption in the same year.
“The country sold 12 bcm of gas in the previous fiscal year to neighboring states, namely Turkey and Iraq,” he said.
Iran holds the world’s second largest gas reserves after Russia. Nonetheless, the country holds the unenviable title of the world’s fourth largest gas consumer, which reveals the country’s heavy reliance on hydrocarbons and its inadequacy in developing other forms of energy. According to London-based statistics and research firm Enerdata, Iran consumed about 188 billion cubic meters of gas in 2016, constituting 38% of total gas consumption in the Middle East. To put that into perspective, China, one of the world’s fastest growing economies with over 17 times the population of Iran and nearly six times its land area, consumed 203 bcm of gas in 2016. The country produces over 800 mcm/d of gas, most of which come from South Pars, a large offshore gas field in the Persian Gulf shared by Iran and Qatar.
Sinopec Expects Higher Profit
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) said on Tuesday that it expects its net profit for the first half of 2018 to have jumped by around 50% on the year, on the back of higher oil prices. Consequently, net incomes for both the first half and second quarter of this year would be the highest profit figures for the top Chinese refiner since 2013.
Sinopec said in a security exchange filing that in the first half of 2018, with the rise in international oil price as compared with the corresponding period of pervious year, the upstream business of the company improved significantly, Oil Price reported.
“The midstream and downstream business of the company seized the market opportunity and strengthened structural adjustment and optimization. The profitability of the ompany has showed a year-on year improvement,” Sinopec said.