Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 13
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
Iran witnessed gas shortage in recent days despite the fact that the country's natural gas output has increased by 200 million cubic meters this year, Mehr news agency reported.
The National Iranian Gas Company has stopped supplying gas to a number of cement plants due to a wave of cold sweeping the country. The ongoing problem however is not due to output shortage but because of delay in inaugurating the projected compressor station.
It was already planed that the country's gas transmission capacity will increase by 80 million cubic meters per day this year through installing five compressor stations en route the transmission pipeline.
These gas compressor stations haven't become fully operational and as a result the country now is forced to send the surplus gas produced in southern regions in particular in South Pars Gas field for flaring, according to the Mehr report.
Daily gas consumption by various sectors in Iran amounted for 645 million cubic meters in the 24 hours of Dec. 6.
Gas consumption has witnessed an increase by 100 million cubic meters in daily basis in recent days due to cold season, Boujarzadeh, spokesman of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said.
Iran's average daily gas consumption in the current fiscal year (started on March 21) amounted to 456 million cubic meters, whereas the number was 431 million cubic meters for the last fiscal year, he said.
Most of Iran's gas output is consumed domestically, while most of liquid fuels that used to be consumed at industrial units and power plants are now available for export.
Currently Iran's enriched and sweet gas production capacity stands at 700 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) and 550 mcm/d respectively.
The country plans to increase gas production to 1.1 billion cubic meters per day by 2018.