Tehran, Iran, June 28
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The National Iranian Gas Company plans to extend the country's domestic gas supply network to cover 1.5 million new customers by the end of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 20).
That project will cost some $4.7 billion, the company's CEO Hamidreza Araqi said, Shana news agency reported June 28.
The company needs over $10 billion to carry out the projects envisaged for the current year, whereby the standstill situation in the governmental and private sectors of Iran's gas industry will be broken, he noted.
He went on to say that $1.8 billion has been allocated to Sistan-Baluchestan province gas distribution projects to provide houses and industrial units with gas this year.
Araqi further said $2.5 billion has been allocated to the sixth cross-country pipeline which will facilitate gas supply to Iraq as well.
The official added that $1.3 billion has been allocated to the Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company to accomplish some semi-finished pipelines and launch pressure boosting plants.
This year a new record will be registered in investments made in the gas industry, he stated.
Iran's industrial units consumed 32.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas in total during the last fiscal year.
Meanwhile, 173.78 billion cubic meters of gas were consumed by household, commercial, and small facilities last Iranian year.