Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.23
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran should not reduce gas exports by boosting electricity exports, Iran's oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said, noting the importance of paying attention to gas exports.
Zanganeh said that boosting electricity exports should be done, so that electricity exports would be rivalling against the country's gas exports, Iran's Shana news agency reported on April 23.
"Each cubic meter of gas is sold at 45 cents. This is while the same amount of gas can be used to generate 5.8 kilowatt hours of electricity, which is sold at 20 cents," the minister said.
"Some $3.5 billion worth of oil and gas has been used in recent years to generate electricity, while just $800 million has been earned through exporting the generated electricity," he said.
According to annual report released by Iran's Energy Ministry, the country exported 11,773 GWh electricity during last fiscal year, ended on March 20, 2014.
Iran plans to attract some $150 billion in oil and gas production projects by 2019. The country holds above 153 billion barrels of oil reserves of which 29 percent are on the off-shore fields. The country's proven gas reserves are about 33.6 billion cubic meters.
Iran forecasts an increase in its crude oil and natural gas production in the current Iranian calendar year 1393, which began on March 21.
Iran's crude oil output is forecast to increase by about 200,000 barrels per day to 4 million barrels per day, and its daily natural gas output is forecast to increase by about 100 million cubic meters per day to 400 million cubic meters per day, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in March.
On December 3, 2013, Zanganeh said Iran could boost production to 4 million barrels per day in the next Iranian calendar year if the sanctions were lifted.