TEHRAN – Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said three billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas have been stored in the country’s storage facilities during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 22) which is a new 10-year record high.

As Mehr News Agency reported, Khojasteh-Mehr said the mentioned gas is going to be injected into the national network during the cold season.

The official noted that achieving this record is a sign of proper management of consumption compared to the past, expressing hope that with the continuation of the current trend, part of the problems related to the lack of gas in winter will be resolved.

Iran has two major natural gas storage facilities in Sarajeh and Shourijeh, in which every year the National Iranian Gas Company stores the gas received from gas refineries all over the country to be used in the colder months of the year.

The volume of natural gas stored in Iran’s Shourijeh storage exceeded 2.0 bcm in the current year, registering an 11-percent rise compared to the same period last year, a gas official said.

According to Yahya Feizi, the increase in the volume of storage in Shourijeh, is going to increase the supply capacity of the facility by 3.0 mcm per day in the cold season.

As one of the world’s top gas producers, the Islamic Republic has been following a plan to expand its underground natural gas storage capacity to ensure that enough natural gas is available during peak demand periods to avoid electricity supply shortfalls in the future.

According to the National Iranian Gas Company’s plans, the capacity of the two storage facilities, Sarajeh and Shourijeh, is planned to increase to over seven billion cubic meters in the near future.

EF/MA