Page 9 - MEOG Week 15 2022
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MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG
Iran to nearly double underground
gas storage capacity
IRAN IRAN’S underground gas storage (UGS) capac- The news continues the trend of UGS expan-
ity will be nearly doubled to 6bn cubic metres sion in Iran. In February 2021, the Iranian
(bcm) by 2025 from the present 3.25 bcm under Central Oil Fields Co. (ICOFC), a subsidiary of
plans drawn up by the Ministry of Petroleum the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), said that
(MoP). gas reproduction capacity from Sarajeh had
The ministry wants to achieve better man- increased by 17% over the previous 11 months.
agement of the country’s gas resources during The company’s production director Ahmad
the cold winter months, according to a report by Rajabisaid that 1.01bcm of gas had been repro-
Fars News. Reproduced gas from UGS currently duced from storage over the period.
accounts for 1.7% of total annual gas production Meanwhile, in mid-2020, Ahmad Rajabi,
in Iran. director of technical affairs at the National Ira-
Iran has two UGS facilities: the larger Sara- nian South Oil Co. (NISOC) – another NIOC
jeh unit is located near Qom, while the smaller affiliate – said that combined reproduction from
Shourijeh facility is in the northeastern province the two sites increased by 33% during the March
of Khorasan Razavi, 124 km south of Tehran. 2019-March 2020 calendar year compared to the
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi lately vis- one prior.
ited the Shourijeh facility to commence the start Iran’s current daily gas production is esti-
of construction works on a second phase of its mated at around 1bcm per day. The country’s
storage system. The project will take three years reserves are the second largest in the world, trail-
to finish and will need an investment worth ing only those of Russia, but huge investment
$700mn. It will allow for the transfer of another would be needed to facilitate a big expansion in
20mn cubic metres (mcm) per day of natural gas gas production.
from storage. Natural gas in Iran is currently available to
When the near doubling of UGS capacity is 99% of the urban population and 86% of rural
complete, the daily gas transfer capacity from the dwellers via a 37,000-km pipeline system,
two storage systems is to reach 55 mcm. according to the MoP.
Week 15 13•April•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
