Gov’t prioritizes energy diplomacy: NIGC
The current Iranian government has attached great importance to energy diplomacy, announced Head of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Majid Chegeni.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the official said two rounds of negotiations have been conducted to extend the gas contract with Iraq, as Iran’s gas export contract to Turkey is valid by 2026, Shana reported.
“Talks also have been conducted with Turkmenistan for the import of gas, and the debt has been paid to the country in three installments,” Chegeni noted.
Negotiations have also been held regarding the gas trade with Russia and Oman, the NIGC head said, adding that European countries are interested in importing gas from Iran through Turkey.
Last [Iranian] year, the country set an increase of over 16% in natural gas exports to Turkey and Iraq, as a 22 percent of rise was registered in LPG exports to Iraq, he noted.
“The cost of optimization is much lower than the cost of investment. Most of our energy-intensive industries use old technologies, with a consumption of more than four times the global average.”
All over the world, methods are used for using the minimum amount of energy, but the laws related to savings are not observed in Iran, Chegeni said, stating that the consumption pattern must comply with global standards, which is a cross-sectoral issue and requires the cooperation of the ministries of roads and industry.
“According to the upstream plans for the country’s gas refineries, the infrastructure of the supply network has also been developed, as now 1,253 cities and 39,699 villages are connected to the national gas network.”
The annual gas consumption of power plants of the country is about 75 billion cubic meters, which is equal to approximately 32 percent of Iran’s total consumption, Chegeni said, adding that the industrial sector receives 71 billion cubic meters annually (31 percent), while the home sector consumes 63 billion cubic meters of gas annually (27 percent).