Iran Has Capacity to Produce 172bcm of Sweet Gas Annually: Official

Iran has the capacity to produce 172 billion cubic metres (bcm) of sweet gas annually and plans to increase that capacity, Azizollah Ramezani, the director for international affairs of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has said.

He put the country’s annual gas consumption at 170bcm, saying that gas accounts for 61% of energy consumption in Iran, Shana news agency reported on December 23.

Some 36,000 kilometres of high-pressure gas transfer pipeline has so far been constructed across the country, he added.

Sweet gas is mainly consumed by the household sector, he said, adding that the use of this clean fuel should be increased in power plants and industries.

NIGC is seeking to expand gas export infrastructures and sign contracts with neighbouring countries, he noted.

Iran’s gas production capacity is around 700 million cubic metres per day which will be boosted to 1200 million cubic metres a day by 2020, he said. The Iranian gas industry need $ 100 billion (USD) investment over the next five years, he added.