Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar.26
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran will become holder of the largest gas storage facilities in the Middle East
in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, the Tasnim News Agency quoted Massoud Samivand, managing director of Natural Gas Storage Company (NGSC), as saying on March 26.
Once the Shoorijeh gas storage facility comes on stream, Iran will rank fifth in the world for largest gas storage capacity, Samivand added.
The Shoorijeh gas storage facility can provide sufficient gas to meet the consumption in the northern and eastern provinces of Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, South Khorasan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Gilan, and Ardebil, NGSC managing director explained.
In June 2013, Samivand said that once the Shoorijeh gas storage project comes on stream, Iran will become needless of gas imports from eastern neighbors.
The project will come on stream at the cost of two trillion rials (some $163.1 million based on the official rate of USD and $66.6 million based on the free market's price) which is 10 percent less than the anticipated figure, Samivand added.
The Shoorijeh gas storage facility, located at the northeastern province of Razavi Khorasan, has the capacity to store 4.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the Fars News Agency reported.
Shoorijeh gas storage facility has two phases and its injection capacity is 10 million cubic meters per day.
The U.S. with 121 billion cubic meters ranks first in the list. Iran currently stands at the 19th place.