Record gas consumption in Iran and the Oil Minister's request to the public: Wear warm clothes

Oil Minister Ebrahim Raisi says that domestic gas consumption in Iran has hit a record high and urged people to wear warm clothes at home. Given the drop in air temperatures, domestic gas consumption in Iran is expected to increase further.

Javad Oji wrote on his personal Twitter page on Sunday, January 23, that in the past 24 hours, a "historical record" of 692 million cubic meters of gas consumption was recorded in the domestic, commercial, and non-major industrial sectors.

He added that "the gas network is stable, but the continuation of these conditions requires the cooperation of our dear compatriots and consumption management."

Two days earlier, in an interview with Islamic Republic State Television, Oji had urged people to manage gas consumption by wearing warm clothes at home and turning off heating appliances when leaving home or work.

However, given the possibility of further temperature drops in the coming weeks, gas consumption in the country is expected to increase.

Iran's oil and gas sector needs $160 billion in investment

In recent years, the Iranian government has not published a report on investment in the country's oil and gas industries.

In one of the few official reports in this regard, the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly published a report last August stating that investment in the exploration and development of the country's oil and gas fields had decreased from about $23 billion in 2012 to about $3 billion in 2018 and 2019.

Javad Oji, the Minister of Oil in Ebrahim Raisi's government, also announced last November that the country needs $160 billion in investment in the oil and gas industries, saying that "if there is no spending on development, Iran will become an importer of oil and gas in the future."

Iran also faced a gas shortage last year, prompting some power plants to switch to diesel fuel instead of gas. The use of diesel fuel in power plants last year caused severe air pollution in a number of the country's major cities.

This year, however, the gas shortage in some Iranian power plants began much earlier than last year, in the summer.

All this while Iran is the second country in the world with the largest natural gas resources after Russia and is also the fourth country in the world in terms of oil reserves.

Source: DW