The National Iranian Gas Company raised its natural gas exports in 2022 by 17%, the managing director of Iranian Gas Transmission Company said.
“The state-run company’s exports reached 17 billion cubic meters in 2021 and 20 bcm in 2022,” Gholam-Abbas Hosseini was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Turkey buys around a quarter of its 40 billion cubic meters of piped natural gas a year from Iran.
“Close to 30 million cubic meters of gas per day are also sold to Iraq. Natural gas swap with neighboring countries, including Turkmenistan, has also experienced a 138% growth over the period,” he said.
The national gas grid has been extended by 500 kilometers since last May and close to 14,000 new rural subscribers have been linked to the network.
NIGC has installed gas pipeline to feed new power stations, namely Aryan Power Plant in Zanjan, Qeshm Pasargad Combined-Cycle Power Plant on Qeshm Island, Kish Island Power Plant and Hengam Power Plant in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province.
The volume of gas transmission across the country in the current Iranian year is projected to reach 280 bcm, up 2% compared to last year when the figure was 274 bcm.
“The largest volume of gas transmission pertained to household use and due to the rise in temperature and cold winter last year, a high record of gas transfer was registered on Feb. 10, as more than 858 million cubic meters of gas were transferred on that day,” he added.
The previous sweet gas transfer record, set in January 2022, was 852 million cubic meters per day.
The official noted that timely repair and maintenance of pipelines and gas pressure boosting facilities, as well as the completion of the major overhaul of 44 turbines resulted in network stability and non-stop operation of turbo-compressors.
The National Iranian Gas Company supplies natural gas to over 95% of the country's population.
As development plans are underway in different regions, a rise in gas transfer is also expected.
With the installation of new pipelines and the construction of pressure boosting stations, more gas can be transmitted through the Iran Gas Trunkline, which is a series of nine large diameter pipelines built to supply gas from refineries in the southern Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces.