Iranian Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji said on Tuesday that the consumption of energy in Iran is 2.5 times higher than the globally accepted norms.
He made the remarks few days after record cold caused gas supply cuts in a small parts northeastern Iran.
Hailing the country’s gas production as unprecedentedly high, Owji said that “if we are to consume whatever we produce, the current problems will continue.”
The minister said that the South Pars Gas Field is producing a record 705 mcm/d, adding that the last phase of the giant gas filed is also expected to come on stream by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).
He also put the country’s total gas output at 980 mcm/d.
Owji touched upon the recent gas supply cuts, noting that there are 23 million subscribers in both commercial and household sectors while as few as 17,000 of the subscribers faced gas supply cuts.
Following record cold in Iran, the government announced widespread shutdowns across the country to reduce gas consumption and subsequent supply cuts.
All the Iranian schools were shutdown with the government organizations being closed in capital Tehran on Saturday.
The organizations opened a day later but they operated with one third of their staff keeping the temperature at minimum at work.
Although working in Tehran returned to normalcy on Monday and all the staff were called back to work, both the state and private sector offices were asked to save energy and keep the temperature between 18 and 21 degree Celsius. The schools are still shutdown all across the country and the students receive online education.