Mohammadreza Aref, speaking Monday during a visit to the National Iranian Gas Company, praised managers, engineers, specialists and workers at the company, according to his office’s news site.

“We were aware of the scientific capacity and high spiritual morale of the staff at the Oil Ministry and the National Iranian Gas Company, and we believed they would not allow people’s lives to be disrupted,” Aref said.

“The enemy used all its efforts to strike vital infrastructure to create dissatisfaction among the people, but oil and gas sector workers performed exceptionally and succeeded in a short time in compensating for the damage from the enemy’s attacks,” he added.

Aref, referring to alignment among the battlefield, the government and the people, said: “In the third imposed war, the people are at the forefront, and the government and battlefield follow the people. The unity and cohesion existing across the country and at all levels of governance is the key to the Iranian nation’s victory.”

Two gas refineries rebuilt relying on domestic capability

Saeid Tavakoli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, said the Oil Ministry assigned responsibility for rebuilding and constructing two gas refineries to his company for the first time in the ministry’s history, demonstrating confidence in the company’s engineering, technical and operational capability.

Describing the technical and operational management of the national gas network during wartime and peak consumption, Tavakoli reported complete stability in household gas supply, rapid reconstruction of damaged facilities and an active, integrated national fuel supply chain. Despite damage to the country’s sweet gas production capacity, he said, the national gas grid was managed without interruption, and a plan to restore some lost capacity before winter is being implemented forcefully.

Tavakoli, who is also a deputy oil minister, thanked the government for its support, saying that since August 2024 — despite experiencing one of the longest and coldest periods — not a single household gas cutoff was recorded. He credited the integrated management of the Oil Ministry from upstream to downstream oil and gas operations.

He said network performance improved in 1404, with gas deliveries to power plants increasing significantly in the first half of the past Iranian year, preventing widespread diesel use. For the first time, he said, the country entered winter in early November with full liquid fuel storage tanks.

Despite challenges, diesel storage remains in good condition due to maximum gas delivery to power plants, and no power plant has faced fuel shortages, Tavakoli said.

Integrated national fuel supply chain

The deputy oil minister said a complete and integrated fuel supply chain enabled the country to avoid a serious crisis. Coordination between the National Iranian Oil Company upstream, the National Iranian Gas Company downstream and the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company for fuel products remained uninterrupted, he said.

Stable gas condensate supply for gasoline production, sustained feedstock for petrochemical plants and the prevention of gas flaring resulted from this synergy, with effects now visible across the country’s entire energy chain, Tavakoli added.

Consumption management and optimization

Tavakoli cited the successful transfer of fuel mix management responsibility to the Interior Ministry and provincial governors since 1403 as a strategic step toward national cohesion. The decision eliminated sectoral approaches and allowed more comprehensive consumption management, he said, expressing hope the approach would continue this year.

Acknowledging the imbalance in the national gas network, Tavakoli said planning is underway to compensate for a significant portion of the shortfall before winter arrives.