Iran reports major rise in gas demand amid cold snap

Iran has reported a major increase in the use of natural gas amid falling temperatures that have pushed up demand for heating in the country’s household sector.

The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said on Saturday that household demand for natural gas had reached an average of 390 million cubic meters (mcm) per day in the four days to October 25, up nearly 100 mcm per day or 55% from the same period last year.

It said temperatures had dropped by an average of 12 degrees Celsius across Iran, adding that 11 out of 31 provinces in the country had reported rain or snow over the four-day period.

The NIGC described the sudden cold snap in Iran as unprecedented in the past five years, adding that demand for gas had reached peaks normally seen in December.

Its CEO Saeid Tavakoli said, however, that there was no problem in the supply of natural gas in Iran, especially in the country’s northern half where people normally experience lower temperatures in autumn and winter months.

Iran is one of the largest producers and consumers of natural gas in the world with a daily production of nearly 1 billion cubic meters of raw gas and a total demand that hits more than 750 mcm per day in winter months.

The country relies on gas from South Pars, a large gas field shared with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, for a bulk of its demand.

However, it also receives gas supplies from Turkmenistan under a swap agreement that allows Iran to use the imported gas in its north and northeast and supply the same amount to Azerbaijan in the northwest.

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