Iran will start gas extraction from its storage facilities Sarajeh and Shoorijeh in two weeks if temperatures continue to drop, Zawya news website has reported.
The country is prepared to add 20mn cubic meters of gas per day to the country’s national gas network in the upcoming cold months, according to the managing director if Iran’s Natural Gas Storage Company Masoud Samivand.
“If the temperatures continue to drop, the country will start extracting gas from storage facilities in two weeks,” Samivand said.
“We extracted between nine and ten million cubic meters of gas per day from Sarajeh storage facility last winter which proved that the storage facilities are effective” he added.
Samivand noted that Iran will not face any gas shortages in the winter if people use the resource efficiently. He was also quoted as saying that some 2bn cubic meters of gas have been kept in the country’s storage facilities, exceeding expectations and estimates from the government.
“We have stored enough gas and some new phases of South Pars gas field have also started production, so the situation is better than previous winter. However, people still need to use gas efficiently,” the official said.
Currently, Shoorijeh gas storage facility – located in the northeastern province of Razavi Khorasan and Sarajeh gas storage facility- located in the central Qom province – are active.
The construction operation of Iran’s third gas storage facility, is also underway. The country’s third storage facility is being built in central Kashan city and once it comes on stream,it will increase the country’s total storage capacity by 3bn cubic metres helping it reach 11bn.Â
Iran has one of the biggest gas storage capacity in the Middle East and appears in the world’s top five.Â
Based on the Fifth Five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan (2011-2015), gas storage facilities are in charge of providing enough gas to meet 14 percent of the country’s total consumption in the cold months.
Samivand said in February that based on global standards, Iran needs to store around 10 to 15% of its total consumption, which equals15 bn cubic meters.
“In case of constructing a 40-million cubic metres refinery for Shoorijeh facility and another 20-million cubic metres facility for Sarajeh facility, the country will even be able to pump 60 million cubic meters of gas to national network,” Samivand said in June.
Iran plans to increase its gas storage capacity by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21.
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