Speaking on the state of the sector, Pakseresht said Iran’s heavy reliance on a single energy source has left all major sectors of the economy closely tied to natural gas.

He acknowledged that Iran’s energy portfolio had not been developed in a balanced way in previous years, resulting in the current supply-demand imbalance. Natural gas, he said, can no longer carry the country’s energy needs on its own.

Pakseresht said natural gas should be used more strategically to support industrial production, job creation and economic growth rather than meeting nearly all forms of energy demand.

He said roughly one-third of the country’s gas is consumed by power plants, one-third by industry and one-third by residential, commercial and public sectors.

On energy access, Pakseresht said expanding gas pipelines should not be viewed as the only measure of public welfare. In some regions, electricity, renewable energy or other alternatives may be more economical than extending the gas network.

He said the primary objective of Iran’s gas pricing reforms is to reduce consumption and address supply imbalances rather than generate government revenue. The country’s tiered tariff system places about 70% of customers in the lowest consumption bracket, 18% in the second tier, 10% in the third and just 2% in the highest-consumption category.

Under the system, customers exceeding consumption benchmarks pay higher rates. Pakseresht said the company is also finalizing a more transparent billing system that will allow customers to see their usage by tariff tier and the cost calculation for each level.

Pakseresht described demand-side efficiency as the single most important solution to Iran’s gas imbalance, saying production increases alone cannot solve the problem if consumption continues to rise unchecked.

He said Iran faced a daily gas shortfall averaging 250 million to 300 million cubic meters last winter. During what he referred to as the "Third Imposed War," four gas processing plants were damaged, temporarily removing about 230 million cubic meters per day of processing capacity from service. With Iran’s total daily gas production below 900 million cubic meters, he said the losses significantly affected winter supply.

He said the National Iranian Gas Company plans to restore 75 million to 80 million cubic meters per day of processing capacity in four phases by this winter and early next year.

A full recovery of the damaged facilities will take at least two to two-and-a-half years, Pakseresht said, adding that this winter Iran will face both its usual supply imbalance and shortages linked to the damaged infrastructure.

He said meeting domestic demand remains the government’s top priority. Gas exports have been reduced to a minimum, and any further supply constraints would be managed by prioritizing domestic consumers over exports.