Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Some 750,000 barrels of gas condensates will be exported from South Pars gas field's phases 15 and 16 in the near future.
Reza Forouzesh, the project manager of phases 15 and 16, said that the gas condensates storage units of the phases are ready to start the loading operation, Iran's SHANA News Agency reported on Jan. 23.
"The two phases' gas production currently stands at 34 million cubic meters per day, but the figure is expected to reach 40 million cubic meters per day in the near future," he said.
"The oil minister is satisfied with the progress of phases 15 and 16," Forouzesh said, adding that the phases will fully become operational according to the oil ministry's schedule.
Phases 15 and 16 are projected to produce 56.6 million cubic meters of gas per day, and 1.05 million tons of liquid gas (propane and butane) and one million tons of ethane per year.
The Managing Director of National Iranian Gas Company Hamidreza Araqi said in November 2014 that Iran gas output will be doubled in the next three years.
"The country's total gas production will reach 330 billion cubic meters in the Iranian calendar year of 1396 (to start on March 21, 2018)," he said.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangneh also said in November that some 44 billion cubic meters of gas will be added to the country's total output in the next Iranian calendar year (to start March 21).
The minister went on to note that Iran's gas consumption in the current year is 100 million cubic meters more than the previous year.
"Iran will reduce its liquid fuel consumption in the next three years," he added.
"Currently some 600 million cubic meters of gas per day is being delivered to the National Iranian Gas Company," Zanganeh said.
Iran faced severe gas shortage last winter. The country was forced to cut gas supply to industrial units and petrochemical complexes on several occasions.
Houshang Taheri, an official with the National Iranian Gas Company, predicted on Nov. 2 that Iranian households' gas consumption would reach 350 million cubic meters per day during the winter.
He went on to note that the households' consumption was around 120 million cubic meters per day at the end of September.
"The number of subscribers to the national network has increased by 8 percent compared to the same period previous year," Taheri said.
The Managing Director of Iran's Natural Gas Storage Company Masoud Samivand said on Oct. 29 that the country is able to pump 20 million cubic meters of gas per day from Sarajeh and Shoorijeh gas storage facilities to the country's national gas network in cold months.
"If the temperatures continue to drop the country will start extracting gas from storage facilities in two weeks," he said.
Samivand said on Oct. 27 that some 2 billion cubic meters of gas had been stored in the country's storage facilities.
According to BP's latest yearly report, Iran 's dried gas output is about 160 bcm, a little more than domestic consumption level.
Iran exported 7.5 bcm of gas to Turkey and imported 4.5 bcm gas from Turkmenistan in 2012, according to BP's report.