Mohammad Reza Aref, the First Vice President, announced on October 5, 2024, the exit of 250 million cubic meters of gas from Iran's energy network. This significant reduction occurs at a time when the country's energy infrastructure has been damaged due to two recent wars, and the government is trying to restore 100 million cubic meters of this amount to the network before the onset of winter.
History of the Gas Crisis in Iran
The gas crisis in Iran has become a chronic problem and has been recurring for years. Last winter, gas consumption in the residential, commercial, and small industrial sectors reached a record 737 million cubic meters per day, equivalent to about 85 percent of the network's gas. Meanwhile, the gas shortage on some cold days reached about 300 million cubic meters per day.
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In the past five years, gas shortages have repeatedly occurred during winters, and the government has imposed restrictions among industries, power plants, and households to maintain the network. Javad Owji, the then Minister of Oil, announced a gas shortage of about 230 to 240 million cubic meters per day in the winter of 2021, and this problem extended to the residential sector in the winter of 2022.
Consequences of the Crisis and Solutions
The government is trying to prevent further crises by better managing resources. First Vice President Masoud Pezeshkian has stated that the government does not want to cut off electricity and gas to industries, but some outages may be implemented to preserve energy. These statements indicate the government's inability to fully meet needs, and it seems that the cost of shortages is being transferred to various sectors of society.
Experience from previous years shows that prioritizing residential gas does not eliminate the crisis but rather transfers it to industries and power plants. In recent years, energy-intensive industries such as steel and petrochemicals have been severely affected by these restrictions, and a noticeable decrease in production in these sectors is evident.
Despite Iran having the second-largest natural gas reserves in the world, chronic gas shortages remain a challenge. Currently, 70 to 75 percent of the country's gas is supplied from the South Pars field, a field where natural pressure decline has begun in some sections. The CEO of the Pars Oil and Gas Company has warned that actions to maintain production from this field should have started years ago.
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