Press TV – August 3, 2020
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says the country will reach almost a full natural gas penetration rate next summer.
Zanganeh said on Monday that more than 95 percent of all households in Iran would have access to natural gas once the current administrative government leaves office in August 2021.
Zanganeh said that the figure, which he described as unique in the world, would be above a target set in 2013.
“We do not have such a level of extensive gas penetration in the world, this is an important infrastructure which people have a good grasp of it,” he said.
Iran is the second largest holder of natural gas reserves in the world. It has significantly boosted production in recent years despite sanctions imposed by the United States on the country’s energy sector.
Growing production has become possible thanks to massive development plans in the sprawling South Pares gas field, the world’s largest gas reserve which is shared between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
Zanganeh, who was speaking at a video conference session to inaugurate new gas projects, said building out South Pars had allowed Iran to expand the coverage of its national gas network to thousands of villages across the country.
Elaborating on gas export figures, he said that Iran is currently pumping some 75 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas through pipelines to neighboring countries.
He said production at South Pars would reach 750 mcm by March 2021, adding that the figure would almost be a three-fold increase compared to 2012.
Iran’s total gas production is set to break through one billion cubic meters per day by next year. Total consumption by households normally hits record highs of 600 mcm a day during cold winter months.