Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 11
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran has supplied over 42.2 billion cubic meters of gas to power plants from the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2014) till Jan. 5, Mojtaba Shaykh Bahai, an official with the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said.
Shaykh Bahai said that the figure increased by 10 billion cubic meters compared to the same period of the preceding year, the oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported Jan. 11.
Iran has averagely supplied over 146.3 million cubic meters of gas per day to power plants during the period, the official said, adding the figure stood at 110.6 million cubic meters per day in the same period of the previous year.
Shaykh Bahai said that Iran's household and commercial gas consumption from the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2014) till Jan. 5 stood at 60.515 billion cubic meters during the period, which is 1.932 billion cubic meters more from year to year.
The NIGC supplied 26.101 billion cubic meters of gas to Iran's major industrial units in the period, the official said, adding that the units consumed about 24.929 billion cubic meters of gas during the same period of last year.
Shaykh Bahai said that Iran has averagely supplied over 90.4 million cubic meters of gas per day to major industrial units during the period, meanwhile the figure stood at 87.9 million cubic meters per day in the same period of the previous year.
Iran has refined over 158 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2014) till Jan. 6 or 12 percent more compared to the same period of the preceding year, Hassan Montazer Torbati, a NIGC official said.
The Islamic Republic's gas exports during the period also stood at eight billion cubic meters or 10 percent more from year to year, the official said.
The Islamic Republic faced severe gas shortages last winter. In addition to cutting the gas supply to power plants, which led to burning of $30 billion worth liquid fuels, the Iranian government had to decrease gas delivery to petrochemical plants from 1.236 million to 530 million cubic feet.
It should be noted that Iran holds 33.6 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves, sharing 18 percent of total global gas reserves, which puts the country in the top of the world's gas holders list.
However, the lack of proper technology and investment led to long-term delays in implementation of gas production projects.
Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh