Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.13
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: The Iranian deputy oil minister Hamidreza Araqi has warned people about a possible cutoff of the natural gas supply this winter due to a harsh cold season, the Mehr News Agency reported on December 13.
Following severely cold weather in a number of provinces, the official has urged households to economize on the consumption of natural gas.
If consumption is not limited, supplying gas to power plants, industrial units, and households will be reduced, he said.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Nov. 29 that the coming winter will be the hardest one in the country's history in terms of gas supply but doesn't expect a negative impact.
He went on to note that the country's gas sweetening capacity will increase by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2014).
"The gas sweetening output of phases 15 and 16 of the South Pars refinery will reach 25 million cubic meters per day by the end of the current year," he said.
Currently, Iran's power plants need 140-150 million cubic meters of gas per day, but with the gas shortage the country is facing, the power plants have turned to consuming gas oil or kerosene.
Iran's household and business consumption currently stands at 340-345 million cubic meters which is 15-20 percent more than the same period last year.
The Mehr News Agency previously reported that based on the data collected by Iran's Oil Ministry, the country needs over 700 million cubic meters of gas per day in the coming winter.
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.