Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iranian officials have warned over the “wasteful consumption” of natural gas in the country.

The National Iranian Gas Company said Iran will not have enough gas to provide houses in the near future if no measure is taken to contain the current pace of “wasteful consumption” of the crucial fuel.

Abdolhossein Samari, the deputy NIGC director for operations affairs said on April 27 that Iran's energy consumption stands three times above international standards.

The comparison between Iran’s energy consumption and global figures indicated that the global primary energy consumption increased by 27 percent during the last decade, while Iran's energy usage rose by 80 percent.

The biggest problem with Iran’s high energy usage is the country's huge energy waste - which accounts for 25 percent of all energy consumption.

Samari warned that if it is not reduced to match international standards, the country’s gas production in the near future will not suffice to satisfy the demands of its residential and commercial units,” IRNA quoted him as saying.

Iran holds the world second place after Russia for its natural gas reserves. The country’s proven reserves of natural gas stand at 33.6 trillion cubic meters (about 18% of global reserves.

Samari said Iran's current annual gas consumption stands at 163 billion cubic meters, which he said is the third highest in the world.

He added that Iran's production of gas will reach about 1 bcm per day in 2017 should all the remaining phases of South Pars energy hub – that provides the bulk of the country’s supplies – be brought on stream.

Samari stressed the need to change the country's viewpoint toward gas as a cheap and abundant fuel.

Iran is the leading producer of natural gas in the Middle East and third in the world after the United States and Russia.

Iran's largest natural gas field, South Pars, is estimated to hold roughly 40 percent of Iran's gas reserves. However, the vast majority of Iran's gas reserves are undeveloped. Natural gas production from South Pars is critical to meet increasing domestic consumption and Iran's current and future export obligations.

Natural gas is also the country's primary fuel source to generate electricity.

Iran trades marginal amounts of natural gas regionally via pipelines. The majority of Iran's imports come from Turkmenistan and roughly the same amount of Iran's exports goes to Turkey.

Analysts believe that the country has not been able to fully exploit its potentials in the gas sector due to the U.S.-engineered sanctions, mismanagement and wasteful domestic energy consumption.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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