Gas consumption in the commercial and household sectors reached 700 million cubic meters per day on Jan. 12, the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company said.
“The high consumption shows an increase of 150 mcm per day compared with the same period of last year,” Majid Chegeni was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana.
“As the cold weather has swept across most parts of Iran, we are witnessing a drop in temperature in many regions. Less than two weeks into the winter, the temperature has reached minus 28 degrees Celsius in the northwestern and northeastern provinces, which has been unprecedented in the last 10 years,” he added.
Chegeni noted that despite the cold spell, fortunately the country has not had any gas outages.
Due to the persistence of the cold spell, gas consumption has increased and the growing trend of consumption is predicted to continue, he added.
In related news, the oil minister said the temperature is below zero in more than 460 cities in 27 provinces of the country.
Emphasizing that until now, there has been no report of gas shortages in the domestic and commercial sectors, Javad Owji, however, added that gas pressure in northeastern provinces has decreased, which is a warning to subscribers for adopting a more efficient consumption model.
Regarding the measures that can be taken to reduce consumption, he said, “Turning off unnecessary heating systems in the house, commercial centers and offices, and keeping the temperature between 18 and 21 degrees can ensure stable gas supply across the country.”