TEHRAN – Head of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Majid Chegeni has said over 1,700 kilometers of high-pressure gas pipelines are currently under construction across the country, Shana reported.

Speaking in a meeting with Bahram Salavati, the head of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC), Chegeni said: “The implementation of more than 1700 kilometers of high-pressure transmission lines including Bidboland - Ahvaz, Qom - Mohammadieh - Parchin, Rasht - Chelvand, Laft - Gourzin - Bandar Abbas and Bidboland - Gachsaran shows NIGC’s determination for completing underway projects on schedule.”

“Implementation of projects on time, in accordance with the current standards and regulations of the Oil Ministry, will lead to further development of the country's gas industry,” he added.

The official noted that his company has put strengthening the gas infrastructure on the agenda as one of its main priorities of the company in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21).

Operating the largest natural gas network in West Asia, NIGC continues to expand this network into the country’s most remote areas so that currently over 95 percent of the country’s population enjoys natural gas through this huge network.

Overall, about 98.4 percent of the country’s urban population is currently enjoying natural gas through the gas network while the figure stands at 84 percent for the rural population, the report showed.

This level of access is unprecedented in the world since based on the International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Access Outlook even in the world’s advanced countries the average access to natural gas through the pipeline is nearly 75 percent.

With a total length of over 36,000 kilometers, Iran’s gas network is also among the world’s most modern networks and it enjoys the most modern and update measuring, transmission, and pressure boosting instruments and equipment.

This vast network of pipelines is growing bigger and bigger every year as NIGC tries to increase the coverage of the national network to nearly 100 percent.

Over the past few years, every year more than 3,000 villages have been connected to the national gas network, based on NIGC data.

According to the former NIGC Head Hassan Montazer Torbati, by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (starts in March 2025), the total length of the national network is expected to reach 45,000 km.

Although in many countries due to the outbreak of the coronavirus development projects came to a halt, in Iran the projects for supplying natural gas to the country’s rural areas continued under restrict safety protocols along with many other development projects.

According to NIGC data, Iran is currently producing over 810 mcm of natural gas daily which is mostly used inside the country for the domestic sector and also as fuel for the power plants, and a small portion is also exported to the neighboring countries like Iraq and Turkey.

EF/MA