Tehran, Iran, May 20
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
The Sarajeh gas storage facility pumped over 662 million cubic meters of gas to the national gas network in winter.
Iran's Natural Gas Storage Company's Managing Director Masoud Samivand said on May 20 that the figure was three times more than its preceding year, Iran's IRIB News Agency reported.
"Currently 375 million cubic meters of gas is being stored in the facility," he said.
"The country saves some $350 million by storing gas in the facility and pumping it to the national gas network in the cold months," Samivand explained.
Iran plans to increase its gas storage capacity by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21. Iranian oil minister has ordered the related bodies to do their best to achieve the goal, Iran's IRIB News Agency reported on April 20.
Shoorijeh gas storage facility is expected to come on stream by the end of year.
The Shoorijeh gas storage facility, located in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, has the capacity to store 4.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Iran will store extracted gas from the joint gas fields, especially the giant South Pars field, in the facility.
Once the facility comes on stream, Iran becomes one of the world's top five countries in terms of gas storage facilities.
The United States of America with 121 billion cubic meters ranks first on the list. Iran currently stands at the 19th place.
Iran will also become the Middle East's biggest owner of gas storage facilities.
Samivand said in June that once Shoorijeh gas storage project comes on stream, Iran will not need gas imports from its northern neighbors.
"The Shoorijeh gas storage facility can provide sufficient gas to meet the consumption in the northern and eastern provinces of Khorsan Razavi, North Khorasan, South Khorasan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Gilan, and Ardebil," he explained.
"The project will come on stream at the cost of two trillion rials (some 163.1 million dollars based on the official rate of USD and 66.6 million dollars based on the free market's price) which is 10 per cent less than the anticipated figure," Samivand added.
Shoorijeh gas storage facility has two phases and its injection capacity is 10 million cubic meters per day.
Samivand said on Feb. 21 that based on global standards, Iran needs to store around 10 to 15 per cent of its total consumption which is equal to 15 billion cubic meters.
"It is while the country's gas storage capacity is currently around 1.3 billion cubic meters," he added.
Currently, only the Sarajeh gas storage facility is active in Iran.
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 of gas from Turkmenistan in 2012, according to BP's report.
Edited by C.N.