Iran’s Winter Gas Preparations Hit The Skids Amid Icy Snap

23 Dec 2022 Issue: 65 / 51,52 By: Yesar Al-Maleki

Soaring gas demand has pushed the Iranian government into restricting volumes available for industrial end-users in a bid to avoid shortages. Absent pricing reform to curb demand, seasonal shortfalls will grow increasingly problematic in the coming years.

Iran has the second largest gas reserves in the world, at 33.99 trillion m³ (1,200tcf) as of end-2021 according to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). Yet despite having successfully brought substantial new capacity online in recent years, Iran is once again battling troublesome shortages this winter.

Gas consumption from businesses and households (i.e. excluding industry) hit 607mn m3/d (21.2bn cfd) on 20 December according to the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC). The state firm’s head of dispatching operations, Mohammad Reza Jolai, warns that demand will likely hit an all-time high of 650mn m3/d (22.95bn cfd) in January. This is more than double the 284mn m³/d 2021 (10bn cfd) annual average for residential consumption provided by GECF. (CONTINUED - 1090 WORDS)