According to IRIB, Javad Owji said on Saturday evening that the peak of domestic gas consumption reached 700 million cubic meters per day in January and February: "This is while the daily output of refineries was 845 million cubic meters and did not cause a pressure drop in the supply sector.”

He said: "According to the law of the Sixth Development Plan, the daily production of sweet gas and the output of refineries should have reached 1.25 billion cubic meters per day, but due to lack on investment in the gas sector in recent years, the daily output of refineries is now about 840 million cubic meters."

The Minister of Petroleum, stating that the annual trend of increasing gas consumption in the domestic, industrial and power plants is 10 to 12 percent, continued: "We expected to have a shortage of about 200 to 250 million cubic meters of gas per day at the peak of consumption this year."

"At the beginning of the 13th government, the level of fuel storage of power plants was 20 to 25 percent lower than last year," Owji said.

"Our priority in the gas sector is to provide domestic sector with gas, and for this reason we decided to supply liquid fuel to power plants," he said.

Gas stability in the northern provinces with swaps

He pointed to the gas swap agreement with Turkmenistan, and stated that with the gas swap from Turkmenistan to the Republic of Azerbaijan, gas supply was stable in the northern provinces, especially Golestan province.

$20 billion Chinese investment in Iran oil industry

"We have changed contracts and diversified them to attract and encourage investors," Owji said. “In the next eight years, we will allocate $15 billion to $20 billion in oil and gas resources to develop the fields, and about the same amount will be invested by Chinese investors in a 25-year agreement, with banks and holdings contributing to the fields' profits. We will try to have similar contract with the Russians, like the Chinese.”

He stressed: "Today, our most important priority in the oil and gas industry is investment, and if it is not done, we may be importers of these products in the coming years."

Signing MOU with Russia

The Minister of Petroleum touched on his recent trip to Russia, saying, “We have had a good roadmap with Russia in this field in the past, and I, as the head of the Russian Economic Commission, and the Minister of Energy of Russia have a comprehensive roadmap in the field of oil and gas industry in all upstream and downstream sectors.”

Owji added: "We also discussed domestic production and a very good understanding was reached with the Russian side, which, God willing, we will present to the dear nation in due time."

He continued: "Regarding field development, events happened very well and we had a memorandum of understanding with a capable Russian company in the discussion of technology transfer.”

Referring to rising gas prices in Europe, Owji said: "After the OPEC+ ministerial meeting, I said that it is a good opportunity if the oppressive sanctions on the oil and gas industry are lifted. It helps the world to see that with the arrival of Iran to supply energy and the lifting of sanctions, it will be a great help to those countries.

In response to the question whether the price of oil will reach $100 per barrel, he said: "Forecasts are moving forward and in the same direction.”