Speaking at a press conference held on the sidelines of the third day of the 26th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, also called Iran Oil Show, Majid Chegeni said NIGC is a prominent and outstanding company serving the country and an operational company providing constant services.

Over 90,000 people are working in gas industry, he said, adding the 26th Iran Oil Show is a unique exhibition and is among the world’s largest exhibits in oil, gas, petrochemicals and refining area.

The achievements made in gas industry do not belong to a specific administration and all previous administrations have participated in this regard, he stated, saying about 1,221 cities (with 98.4 percent access) and 35,575 villages (with 85.4 percent access) enjoy natural gas.

Gas supply projects to 29 cities and 2,952 villages are also underway, upon launching of which, the access of Iranian cities and villages to natural gas will reach 99 percent and 89 percent respectively, he said, adding there are currently 24.5 million gas subscribers in the country.

On gas consumption, Chegeni said an average of about 250 billion cubic meters of gas are consumed in the country annually, adding Iran is the third largest producers of natural gas in the world. Last year, the country supplied about 269 billion cubic meters of gas in total, 122 billion cubic meters of which were consumed in the household and commercial sectors and 71 billion cubic meters in power plants. Moreover, Iran exported 17 billion cubic meters of gas to neighboring countries last year which recorded a two percent increase against the year before.

As scheduled, Iran’s total daily gas injection to the network will ramp up by 45 million cubic meters this year, reaching 278 billion cubic meters, compared to 269 billion cubic meters last year. The increase will be supplied from phases 14 and 11 of the South Pars Gas Field, he noted.

Last year, Iran exported 17 billion cubic meters of natural gas, he said, adding an average of 20 million cubic meters of gas were exported to Iraq on a daily basis which currently stands at about 35 million cubic meters. Meanwhile, about 9 million cubic meters of gas were exported to Turkey per day last year.