Winter Gas Demand Hits Iran's Power
Iran’s housing sector is getting through 540mn m3/d, a record level and expected to rise further in the coming days as temperatures fall further, National Iranian Gas Company said January 17. This has left less available for power generation, it said.
The latest weekly energy ministry statistics show that gas deliveries to power plants fell to 92mn m3/d in the first three weeks of winter (December 21- January 11), compared with 212mn m3/d average during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (March 21-December 21, 2018). As a result, the power sector has used about four times more diesel and fuel oil, or 61mn litres/d this winter.
Iran produces gas at 780mn m³/d this winter at peak and another 20mn m3/d are withdrawn from storage.
During the nine months of the fiscal year (March 21-December 21), the housing, industrial and power sectors consumed 198mn m3/d, 109mn m3/d and 212mn m3/d respectively, on average. Exports stood at about 55-60mn m3/d, though exports in winter is a third of the annual average. Iran also re-injects about 30bn m3/yr (82mn m3/d) into oil fields to maintain output, but less in winter. The country’s flaring also stands at about 50mn m3/d.
There are no official statistics about current industrial gas demand but the figures leave less than 100mn m3/d available for this sector. Iran has not published 2018 output statistics but it seems to have risen less than it did in 2017, when it was up 10.5% year on year.